Kennedy v. The Trustees of the Testamentory Trust of the Last Will and…
Kennedy v. The Trustees of the Testamentory Trust of the Last Will and Testament of President John F. Kennedy
- Barbara Moses
- 1:08-cv-08889
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Kennedy v. Trustees, Judge Barbara Moses denied John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s request for volunteer counsel and closed two related motions.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s request for volunteer counsel was denied, and the motions at Dockets 39 and 41 were closed. The order did not decide his pending motion to vacate the earlier dismissal.
What happened
In Kennedy v. The Trustees of the Testamentary Trust of the Last Will and Testament of President John F. Kennedy, John Fitzgerald Kennedy asked the court to provide him with a volunteer lawyer. The case had been dismissed in 2009, and his later request to reopen that judgment was still pending.
The court explained that civil litigants do not have an automatic right to a free lawyer. It considered factors including the apparent strength of Kennedy’s claims, his ability to pay, his efforts to find a lawyer, and his ability to handle the case without one. The court noted that a prior recommendation concluded that his claims had no merit.
Judge Barbara Moses denied the application for counsel and directed the clerk to close the two related motions filed at Dockets 39 and 41. The order did not decide Kennedy’s pending request to vacate the earlier dismissal.
The detailed version
- Kennedy v. The Trustees of the Testamentory Trust of the Last Will and… · No. 1:08-cv-08889
- Barbara Moses
- Jan. 24, 2025
Background
John Fitzgerald Kennedy requested pro bono counsel, meaning a lawyer who would volunteer to represent him without payment. The request involved Dockets 38 through 41. The opinion explains that Docket 38 included an application to proceed without prepaying fees or costs and attachments; Dockets 39 and 41 contained briefing repeating Kennedy’s claim to be the illegitimate son of President John F. Kennedy and actress Marilyn Monroe; and Docket 40 appeared to repeat the application and attachments.
The underlying action was dismissed on June 19, 2009. On October 9, 2024, Kennedy filed a motion to vacate, or set aside, the dismissal judgment. On October 31, 2024, the court issued a recommendation that the motion be denied, concluding that Kennedy’s claims had no merit. Kennedy objected to that recommendation on November 18, 2024. The opinion states that the motion to vacate remained pending before the district judge when this order was issued.
Legal standard
The court explained that, unlike criminal defendants, people involved in civil cases do not have a right to court-appointed counsel. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1), a court may request that a lawyer volunteer, but it cannot require an attorney to represent the litigant or pay the lawyer. Requests must be made sparingly because volunteer-lawyer time is limited.
The court considered the factors identified by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: the merits of the case, the plaintiff’s ability to pay for private counsel, efforts to obtain a lawyer, the availability of counsel, and the plaintiff’s ability to gather facts and address the issues without assistance. As a threshold requirement, the plaintiff must show that the claim has substance or a likelihood of success.
Ruling
After applying those factors, Judge Barbara Moses determined that Kennedy’s application for counsel must be denied. The order also directed the Clerk of Court to close the motions at Dockets 39 and 41. It did not rule on the pending motion to vacate the 2009 dismissal.
Judge identification
The opinion identifies Barbara Moses as a United States District Judge near the beginning of the text, while the signature block identifies her as a United States Magistrate Judge.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.