Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca4-15-01037/USCOURTS-ca4-15-01037-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 

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UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-1037

JOYCE BANIN; A. K., a minor child,

Plaintiffs - Appellants,

v.

BRIAN BYERSON,

Defendant – Appellee,

and

BIGGS J. BYERSON; JESSE THORTON; JOHN DOE; SECOND LIEUTENANT 

DAVID WHITE; BRENDAN MILLER,

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern 

District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Liam O'Grady, District 

Judge. (1:14-cv-00026-LO-TRJ)

Submitted: September 29, 2015 Decided: October 20, 2015

Before WILKINSON and WYNN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior 

Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Joyce Banin, A.K., Appellants Pro Se. Kimberly Pace Baucom, 

Assistant County Attorney, Jamie Marie Greenzweig, FAIRFAX 

COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellee. 

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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:

Joyce Banin, as next friend of her minor daughter, A.K.,*

seeks to appeal the judgment entered on behalf of Defendant 

Brian Byerson in A.K.’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2012) action. As 

Banin notes, nonattorney parents are prohibited from litigating 

the claims of their minor children in federal court. Myers v. 

Loudoun Cty. Pub. Schs., 418 F.3d 395, 401 (4th Cir. 2005). 

Although Banin retained counsel to represent A.K. in the 

district court, she has not retained counsel on appeal, despite 

ample opportunity to do so. Instead, she seeks appointment of 

counsel on A.K.’s behalf. 

Litigants in a civil action are not constitutionally 

entitled to counsel. Williams v. Ozmint, 716 F.3d 801, 811 (4th 

Cir. 2013). Because we do not discern the exceptional 

circumstances required for appointment of counsel in a civil 

case, see Whisenant v. Yuam, 739 F.2d 160, 163 (4th Cir. 1984), 

abrogated on other grounds by Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Court, 490 

U.S. 296, 298 (1989), we decline to appoint counsel on A.K.’s 

behalf. 

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of counsel. We 

deny as moot A.K.’s motions for reconsideration and for 

 * Insofar as Banin attempts to appeal on her own behalf, she 

is not a proper party to the appeal, as voluntary amendment of 

the complaint eliminated all of Banin’s claims for relief.

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transcripts at government expense. We dispense with oral 

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately 

presented in the materials before this court and argument would 

not aid the decisional process. 

DISMISSED

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