Federal Law - Statutes With Right to Counsel Provisions

  1. 8 U.S.C.A. § 1232 (unaccompanied children in federal custody, and child trafficking victims).

  2. 18 U.S.C.A. § 983 (civil forfeiture proceedings).

  3. 18 U.S.C.A § 3006A(a)(1)(F) (those facing "mental condition hearing" under Chapter 313).

  4. 18 U.S.C.A. § 4247 (Offenders with Mental Disease or Defect – General provisions for chapter).

    1. U.S. v. Abregana, 574 F.Supp.2d 1123 (D. Hawaii 2008). 

  5. 25 U.S.C.A. § 1912 (Indian child welfare – pending custody proceedings). 

  6. 28 U.S.C. § 1875 (jurors fired by employers due to jury service).

    1. Martha Neil, Another Federal Judge Appoints Counsel for Man Claiming to Have Been Fired Over Jury Duty, ABA Journal (Feb. 22, 2012), available at   http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/another_federal_judge_retains_counsel_for_man_who_says_he_was_fired_for_ser/?utm_source=maestro&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly_email. 

    2. Martha Neil, Federal Court Appoints Lawyer to Sue Employer Who Allegedly Fired Woman on Jury Duty, ABA Journal (Feb. 13, 2012), available at http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_court_appoints_lawyer_to_sue_employer_who_allegedly_fired_woman_for/. 

    3. Example of order granting appointment of counsel at http://www.dailyherald.com/assets/pdf/DA106453222.pdf.

  7. 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (In forma pauperis proceedings):

    1. Generally

      1. Richard B. Gallagher, Gary A. Hughes, Tim A. Thomas, & Dag E. Ytreberg, Annotation, Appointment of Counsel for Indigent Plaintiff, 15 Am. Jur. 2d Civil Rights § 131 (updated Sept. 2008). 

      2. Michael B. Mushlin, 3 Rights of Prisoners § 12:24 (3d ed.) (updated Dec. 2009).

      3. Kimberly A. Owens, Right to Counsel - The Third Circuit Delivers Indigent Civil Litigants from "Exceptional Circumstances, 39 Vill. L. Rev. 1163 (1994).

      4. U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, General Order No. 596: Plan for the Representation of Pro Se Litigants in Civil Cases (2011), available at http://www.casd.uscourts.gov/uploads/Rules/General%20Orders/GO_596.pdf.

      5. James J. Vinch, Mallard v. United States District Court: Section 1915(d) and the Appointment of Counsel in Civil Cases, 51 Ohio St. L.J. 1001 (1990).

    2. Cases

      1. Agyeman v. Corrections Corp. of Am., 390 F.3d 1101 (9th Cir. 2004).

      2. Brief of the ACLU as Amicus Curiae Supporting Appellants, Russell v. Dept of Ed., 377 Fed.Appx. 595 (9th Cir. 2010).

      3. Cleary v. Mukasey, 307 Fed.Appx. 963 (6th Cir. 2009).

      4. Edmonds v. DuPont deNemours & Co., 315 F.Supp. 523 (D. Kan.1970). 

      5. Fields v. Wilbur, 360 Fed.Appx. 843 (9th Cir. 2009), cert denied, 131 S.Ct. 141 (2010). The briefs for this case are on file with the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel.

      6. Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Court for the S. Dist. of Iowa, 490 U.S. 296 (1989). 

      7. Nelson v. Redfield Lithograph Printing, 728 F.2d 1003 (8th Cir. 1984). 

      8. Pinson v. Will County State's Office, slip op, 2009 WL 1940786 (N.D. Ill. 2009).

      9. Pruitt v. Mote, 503 F.3d 647 (7th Cir. 2007). 

      10. Rayes v. Johnson, 969 F.2d 700 (8th Cir. 1992). 

      11. Santiago v. Walls, 2010 WL 1170654 (7th Cir. 2010). 

      12. Terrell v. Brewer, 935 F.2d 1015 (9th Cir. 1991). 

      13. Wallace v. Spin Spa, 2007 WL 3026681 (D. N.J. 2007).

      14. Wilson v. Johnson, 535 F.3d 262 (4th Cir. 2008), cert denied, 131 S.Ct. 71 (2010). The briefs for this case are on file with the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel.

      15. Wood v. Housewright, 900 F.2d 1332 (9th Cir. 1990). 

  8. 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (habeas corpus).

  9. 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-5 (Title VII).

    1. Cases

      1. Hosea v. Donley, 2012 WL 5373406 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

      2. Lee v. AT&T Corp., 2010 WL 2348683 (N.D. Cal. 2010).

      3. Poindexter v. FBI, 737 F.2d 1173 (D.C. Cir. 1984).

    2. Treatises

      1. American Jurisprudence, Second Edition, Factors Affecting Whether Counsel Will Be Appointed under Title VII or the Americans with Disabilities Act, 19 Am. Jur. 2d Job Discrimination § 2181 (2015).

      2. Kenneth W. Biedzynski et al, 45C Am. Jur. 2d Job Discrimination § 2218 (database updated Feb. 2010).

      3. Kenneth W. Biedzynski et al, 45C Am. Jur. 2d Job Discrimination § 2219 (database updated March 2011).

      4. Janet Boeth Jones, Right of Complainant, Under 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-5(f)(1), to Appointment of Attorney in Employment Discrimination Action, 75 A.L.R. Fed. 369 (1985).

      5. 3 Emp. Discrim. Coord. Analysis of Federal Law § 125:1 (database updated May 2009).

      6. Susan M. Omilian & Jean P. Kamp, 1 Sex-Based Employment Discrimination § 12:5 (database updated Sept. 2009). 

  10. 42 U.S.C.A. § 3613 (Fair housing - enforcement by private persons).

  11. 42 U.S.C.A. § 5106a(b)(2)(B)(viii) (GAL or atty for child in abuse/neglect proceeding).

  12. 50 App. U.S.C.A. § 521 (Protection of servicemembers against default judgments).

    1. Matthew Besmer, Appointment Practice Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act: The Duties of Court-Appointed Counsel, 43 Clearinghouse Rev. J. of Poverty L. and Pol'y 208 (2009), available with subscription at http://povertylaw.org/node/2306.

    2. Christine Zellar Church, The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act: Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence in Protection Order Cases Involving the Military, 12 T.M. Cooley J. Prac. & Clinical L. 335 (2010).