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D. Minn.Procedural orderFiled Feb. 9, 2021

Davitt v. Krage

Judge
Patrick Schiltz
Docket
0:20-cv-02064
Court
U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
Pages
2
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Davitt v. Patel, Judge Menendez extended Davitt’s amendment deadline and denied his request for a Department of Justice lawyer.

Who this affects

Mike Davitt, who received more time to file an amended complaint but was not provided a lawyer from the U.S. Department of Justice.

What happened

In Davitt v. Patel, Mike Davitt asked for 60 more days to file an amended complaint. He had been representing himself and had only recently been able to consult volunteer counsel.

The court extended the deadline to April 1, 2021. Davitt also asked the court to appoint a lawyer from the U.S. Department of Justice to represent him.

Judge Katherine Menendez denied the request for a Department of Justice lawyer, explaining that the court could not direct the government to seek relief for a litigant. The order granted the deadline extension but denied the request for appointed counsel.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Davitt v. Krage · No. 0:20-cv-02064
Judge
Patrick Schiltz
Date
Feb. 9, 2021

Background

Mike Davitt, who was representing himself, asked for an additional 60 days to file an amended complaint. The court noted that he had only recently had an opportunity to consult with volunteer counsel.

Requests and ruling

The court found good cause to extend the filing deadline and extended it to April 1, 2021.

Davitt also asked the court to appoint a lawyer from the U.S. Department of Justice to represent him. The court explained that federal law allows a court to request an attorney for a person unable to afford counsel, and that the court may have limited authority to appoint counsel when necessary. But the court held that it could not direct the government to seek relief on behalf of a litigant. The court denied this request.

Result

Judge Katherine Menendez extended the deadline for Davitt’s amended complaint to April 1, 2021, and denied his request for a Department of Justice lawyer.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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