Nieves v. Jia
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:21-cv-08753
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Nieves v. Jia, Judge Ramos denied Nieves’s request for pro bono counsel without prejudice because the claims did not yet appear likely to have merit.
Michael Nieves’s request for court-requested volunteer counsel; the order did not decide his underlying claims.
What happened
In Nieves v. Jia, Michael Nieves, who was representing himself, sued Shizhen Jia under a federal civil-rights law and asked the court to request a volunteer lawyer. Nieves said he could not afford legal fees and lacked the training and skills to litigate the case.
The court said it could request that a lawyer represent an eligible person who cannot afford counsel, but it first had to decide whether the claims appeared likely to have merit. At that stage, the court could not reach that conclusion. It therefore denied Nieves’s request for counsel without prejudice to a possible renewal later in the case.
Judge Edgardo Ramos also said Nieves could seek advice from the New York Legal Assistance Group. The clerk was directed to close the counsel motion and mail Nieves a copy of the order.
The detailed version
- Nieves v. Jia · No. 1:21-cv-08753
- Edgardo Ramos
- Apr. 1, 2022
Background
Michael Nieves filed this civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 while representing himself. He asked the court to request free volunteer counsel under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(1), stating that he could not afford legal fees and lacked adequate litigation training and skills. The opinion notes that Nieves filed an amended complaint and then a second amended complaint. Shizhen Jia requested, and received, additional time to respond to the complaint.
Legal standard
The court explained that it cannot force attorneys to represent people in civil cases. Under § 1915(e)(1), however, the court may ask its Pro Bono Office to seek a volunteer lawyer from the court’s panel for an eligible person who cannot afford counsel. The court must first decide whether the person’s claims appear likely to have merit. If that threshold is met, it may then consider additional factors, including whether the person can gather facts and present the case without a lawyer.
Ruling
The court held that, at that stage of the case, it could not conclude that Nieves’s claims were likely to have merit. It therefore denied without prejudice Nieves’s application for appointment of free volunteer counsel, allowing him to seek counsel again at a later stage. The order did not decide the underlying civil-rights claims.
The court said Nieves could seek advice from the New York Legal Assistance Group at 212-659-6190. The clerk was directed to terminate the counsel motion, identified as Document 5, and mail Nieves a copy of the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.