United States Court of Appeals 

For the Seventh Circuit 

Chicago, Illinois 60604 

Submitted February 23, 2021*

Decided February 26, 2021 

Before 

FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge 

DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge

THOMAS L. KIRSCH II, Circuit Judge

No. 20-1742 

WILLIAM RICHTER, 

Plaintiff-Appellant, 

v. 

WEXFORD HEALTH SOURCES, INC., et al., 

 Defendants-Appellees.

 Appeal from the United States District 

Court for the Northern District 

of Illinois, Eastern Division. 

No. 19 C 4681 

Gary Feinerman, 

Judge. 

O R D E R 

William Richter, an Illinois inmate, appeals the district court’s dismissal of his 

complaint, principally contesting the denials of his motions to recruit counsel. Because 

the district court reasonably found that Richter could proceed without counsel and had 

in any case abused the privilege of recruited counsel, we affirm. 

*

 The appellees were not served with process in the district court and are not 

participating in this appeal. We have agreed to decide the case without oral argument 

because the brief and record adequately present the facts and legal arguments, and oral 

argument would not significantly aid the court. FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2)(C). 

NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION 

To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 
No. 20-1742 Page 2 

Richter’s complaint, which alleged deliberate indifference to his medical needs in 

violation of the Eighth Amendment, grouped together nine claims, four defendants, and 

assertions about two prisons. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that Wexford Health 

Sources, Inc., failed to train staff adequately and wrongfully denied him access to 

outside specialists to treat scrotal, chest, abdominal, cough, and vascular problems. The 

other defendants (individual doctors) allegedly failed to treat numbness, back pain, 

testicular pain, and swollen ankles and wrists. He claimed that they also recklessly 

withheld a bottom-bunk permit and wrongfully allowed his prison transfer. 

At screening, the district court dismissed the complaint without prejudice and 

denied Richter’s request for counsel. It explained that Richter had improperly joined 

unrelated defendants and claims, and it gave him a month to amend his complaint with 

only properly joined claims. The court then denied his request for counsel for two 

reasons: The quality of his writing reflected that Richter was competent to litigate the 

case at the pleading stage, and he had not shown an effort to secure counsel on his own. 

Rather than amend his complaint, Richter moved to reconsider the denial of his 

request for counsel, providing evidence of his efforts to retain counsel. The court again 

rejected his request, adding another reason: The pool of recruitable counsel is limited, 

Richter had “fired” his recruited counsel in an earlier case (Richter v. Wexford Health 

Sources, Inc., No. 14 C 6480, 2017 WL 2813658 (N.D. Ill. June 29, 2017)) for objectively 

unjustifiable reasons, and it would “not risk subjecting another attorney” to Richter’s 

“unacceptable” behavior. Richter then asked for a different judge and “emergency” 

counsel, arguing that the judge was biased against him. The court denied those motions 

as well. In the meantime, the court had granted Richter a four-month extension of time 

to amend the complaint (warning Richter that a failure to amend could result in 

dismissal) and, sua sponte, a second extension of four weeks. When Richter did not 

amend his complaint, despite the extensions and warning, the court dismissed the case 

for lack of prosecution. 

On appeal, Richter primarily contests the district court’s refusal to recruit counsel 

for him. He argues that the court was biased against him, he had attempted to retain 

counsel on his own, he was unable to prosecute his case himself, and the court should 

not have relied on his decision to fire recruited counsel in another case. 

All of Richter’s arguments fail. First, Richter’s contention of bias is based on the 

adverse rulings that he received from the district court and its reference to his past 

litigation. But a finding of bias cannot be supported merely by an adverse ruling, 

see Thomas v. Reese, 787 F.3d 845, 849 (7th Cir. 2015), or a reference to past litigation 
No. 20-1742 Page 3 

conduct. See In re City of Milwaukee, 788 F.3d 717, 722 (7th Cir. 2015); see also Liteky v. 

United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555 (1994). 

Second, we will assume that Richter attempted but failed to retain counsel, but 

that effort did not entitle him to recruited counsel. See Olson v. Morgan, 750 F.3d 708, 711 

(7th Cir. 2014). To be eligible for a favorable exercise of discretion in a request for 

counsel, a plaintiff must make reasonable efforts to obtain counsel and be unable to 

litigate the case. Id. (quoting Pruitt v. Mote, 503 F.3d 647, 654 (7th Cir. 2007) (en banc)). 

The court properly considered the demands of the case at the pleading stage as well as 

Richter’s demonstrated ability to express himself in writing, and it reasonably found 

that Richter was able to draft an amended complaint without recruited counsel. 

See Romanelli v. Suliene, 615 F.3d 847, 852–53 (7th Cir. 2010). So the court reasonably 

denied the requests for counsel at the pleading stage. 

In any case, the district court properly exercised its discretion in denying the 

motion to recruit counsel for the independent reason that Richter had unjustifiably 

“fired” his recruited lawyer in another case. There, the court found that his firing was 

“not objectively reasonable.” Order at 2, Richter v. Obaisi, No. 14 C 6480 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 

27, 2019). Richter responds that he had a sound reason for firing his attorney, but he has 

not shown that the judge’s decision to the contrary was clear error—the standard by 

which we assess such decisions. Webster v. Watson, 975 F.3d 667, 683 (7th Cir. 2020) 

(citing Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573 (1985); FED. R. CIV. P. 52(a)(6)). The 

court did not abuse its discretion by deciding not to reward an uncooperative litigant 

with more pro bono legal assistance. See Cartwright v. Silver Cross 

Hospital, 962 F.3d 933, 936–37 (7th Cir. 2020). 

Finally, we note that Richter does not challenge on appeal the district court’s 

ruling that Richter had impermissibly brought several claims against unrelated 

defendants in one case. See George v. Smith, 507 F.3d 605, 607 (7th Cir. 2007). Nor could 

he. We have explained that district courts should prohibit prisoners from attempting to 

join unrelated claims and defendants. Id. Because the court permissibly required Richter 

to limit his complaint to one set of properly joined claims, gave him several chances to 

amend, and warned him that failure to do so could lead to dismissal, it reasonably 

dismissed the case for Richter’s failure to amend. See FED. R. CIV. P. 41(b); Nelson v. 

Schultz, 878 F.3d 236, 239 (7th Cir. 2017); see also Cady v. Sheahan, 467 F.3d 1057, 1061 (7th 

Cir. 2006) (even pro se litigants must follow procedural rules). 

AFFIRMED.