The following excerpt is from Wilson v. Cuevas, Case No.: 16cv2100-BTM (MSB) (S.D. Cal. 2018):
The Constitution provides no right to appointment of counsel in a civil case unless an indigent litigant may lose his physical liberty if he loses the litigation. Lassiter v. Dep't Soc. Servs., 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981). However, under 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(1), courts have the authority to "request" that an attorney represent indigent civil litigants upon a showing of "exceptional circumstances." Agyeman v. Corr. Corp. Am., 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004). When assessing whether exceptional circumstances exist, the
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