What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Intervenors who participated as parties at the courts of appeals should be counted as either appellants or respondents when it can be determined whose position they supported. For example, if there were two plaintiffs who lost in district court, appealed, and were joined by four intervenors who also asked the court of appeals to reverse the district court, the number of appellants should be coded as six.
In some cases there is some confusion over who should be listed as the appellant and who as the respondent. This confusion is primarily the result of the presence of multiple docket numbers consolidated into a single appeal that is disposed of by a single opinion. Most frequently, this occurs when there are cross appeals and/or when one litigant sued (or was sued by) multiple litigants that were originally filed in district court as separate actions. The coding rule followed in such cases should be to go strictly by the designation provided in the title of the case. The first person listed in the title as the appellant should be coded as the appellant even if they subsequently appeared in a second docket number as the respondent and regardless of who was characterized as the appellant in the opinion.
To clarify the coding conventions, consider the following hypothetical case in which the US Justice Department sues a labor union to strike down a racially discriminatory seniority system and the corporation (siding with the position of its union) simultaneously sues the government to get an injunction to block enforcement of the relevant civil rights law. From a district court decision that consolidated the two suits and declared the seniority system illegal but refused to impose financial penalties on the union, the corporation appeals and the government and union file cross appeals from the decision in the suit brought by the government. Assume the case was listed in the Federal Reporter as follows:
United States of America,
Plaintiff, Appellant
v
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendant, Appellee.
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendants, Cross-appellants
v
United States of America.
Widgets, Inc. & Susan Kuersten Sheehan, President & Chairman
of the Board
Plaintiff, Appellants,
v
United States of America,
Defendant, Appellee.
This case should be coded as follows:Appellant = United States, Respondents = International Brotherhood of Widget Workers Widgets, Inc., Total number of appellants = 1, Number of appellants that fall into the category "the federal government, its agencies, and officials" = 1, Total number of respondents = 3, Number of respondents that fall into the category "private business and its executives" = 2, Number of respondents that fall into the category "groups and associations" = 1.
Note that if an individual is listed by name, but their appearance in the case is as a government official, then they should be counted as a government rather than as a private person. For example, in the case "Billy Jones & Alfredo Ruiz v Joe Smith" where Smith is a state prisoner who brought a civil rights suit against two of the wardens in the prison (Jones & Ruiz), the following values should be coded: number of appellants that fall into the category "natural persons" =0 and number that fall into the category "state governments, their agencies, and officials" =2. A similar logic should be applied to businesses and associations. Officers of a company or association whose role in the case is as a representative of their company or association should be coded as being a business or association rather than as a natural person. However, employees of a business or a government who are suing their employer should be coded as natural persons. Likewise, employees who are charged with criminal conduct for action that was contrary to the company policies should be considered natural persons.
If the title of a case listed a corporation by name and then listed the names of two individuals that the opinion indicated were top officers of the same corporation as the appellants, then the number of appellants should be coded as three and all three were coded as a business (with the identical detailed code). Similar logic should be applied when government officials or officers of an association were listed by name.
Your specific task is to determine the total number of appellants in the case that fall into the category "private business and its executives". If the total number cannot be determined (e.g., if the appellant is listed as "Smith, et. al." and the opinion does not specify who is included in the "et.al."), then answer 99.

Opinion:
Genus D. ULMER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. George CHANCELLOR, Sheriff, and Jones County Board of Supervisors, Defendants-Appellees.
No. 82-4007
Summary Calendar.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
Nov. 8, 1982.
Genus D. Ulmer, pro se.
Alpheus H. McRae, Jr., William Harold Odom, Laurel, Miss., Robert H. McFarland, Bay Springs, Miss., for defendants-appellees.
Before RUBIN, JOHNSON and GAR-WOOD, Circuit Judges.
RUBIN, Circuit Judge:
In this pro se civil rights suit, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Supp. Ill 1979), the plaintiff, Ulmer, a former prisoner in the jail of Jones County, Mississippi, alleges that unsanitary conditions and inadequate facilities at the jail, including lack of medical treatment and facilities for exercise, deprived him of his federal constitutional rights. He seeks compensatory and punitive damages from the Sheriff of Jones County and from members of the county Board of Supervisors, together with declaratory and injunctive relief.
Ulmer’s request for appointment of counsel was denied. However, he conducted considerable discovery by interrogatories. He also submitted a motion for summary judgment, which was not acted on. In the order denying the appointment of counsel, the court gave Ulmer thirty days in which either to employ his own attorney or elect to represent himself, and stated that, if neither was done, the case would be ordered dismissed without prejudice. Thereafter, on July 14, 1981, Ulmer filed a motion to subpoena his witnesses, most of whom were in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. He further moved to have all necessary writs of habeas corpus ad testificandum issue for those witnesses in Mississippi state custody. We do not find in the record any order fixing the case for trial or any order or other document notifying Ulmer to appear for trial.
Nonetheless, on August 25, 1981, the district court entered a Judgment of Dismissal stating:
THIS CAUSE came on for hearing this date, it being the day when the same was set for trial.
The court finds that the Plaintiff was duly notified that the cause was set for trial this day and upon the cause being called the Plaintiff did not appear either in person or by counsel whereupon the Court ordered the Plaintiff called and the Plaintiff failed to respond.
All of the defendants were present in person, represented by counsel, and announced ready for trial.
The Court finds that because of the default of the Plaintiff in appearing and prosecuting this case, that the same should be dismissed with prejudice.
(Emphasis supplied.) Ulmer then moved to “reconsider,” on the ground that no court order had issued for him to be transported from the penitentiary to court. The motion was denied by the district court, which ruled as follows:
A prisoner at Parchman has the same right to litigate in this Court as any other litigant. This Court declined to appoint an attorney to represent him for the reason that this cause has already been acted upon by the State Court which has the same responsibility for protecting the constitutional rights of all litigants. The Court does not have the duty or responsibility to look after or protect any such litigant in this court but simply has the duty and responsibility to see that he gets a fair and impartial trial. The defendant here made no request of any kind for any assistance from the Court and the Court gave him none.
A litigant in Parchman does not have any superior right over any other litigant in this Court but simply considered [s/c] here like all other litigants and is charged with the duty and responsibility of attending to his business or to have someone other than the Court do so for him. The plaintiff was promptly and properly advised of the setting of this case for trial but he made no answer or response to the setting and the defendants appeared in person and by counsel and demanded a dismissal which was granted. The motion of the plaintiff for a reconsideration of this case is devoid of any merit and is denied.
The plaintiff requested the right of an appeal as a pauper before the United States Court of Appeals but this Court has examined the record in this case and is of the firm opinion that there is no question of any importance or significance to be heard by the Court of Appeals and I am sure that the Court of Appeals does not need any unnecessary avalanche of such cases presented to them. The request for an appeal as a pauper is likewise denied.
(Emphasis supplied.) The record contains no motion for dismissal. If an oral motion for dismissal was made, no transcript of it was filed in the record.
Because Ulmer did make a timely request that writs of habeas corpus ad testificandum issue for the witnesses in Parehman, and there is nothing in the record to indicate that the writs did in fact issue, or that his request for the writs was even evaluated by the district court, the dismissal is reversed. See Itel Capital Corp. v. Dennis Mining Supply & Equip., Inc., 651 F.2d 405, 407-08 (5th Cir. 1981); Ballard v. Spradley, 557 F.2d 476, 479-81 (5th Cir. 1977); Jerry v. Francisco, 632 F.2d 252, 255-56 (3d Cir. 1980) (per curiam); Peppard v. United States, 314 F.2d 623, 625 (8th Cir. 1963) (per curiam). Accord, McKnight v. Blanchard, 667 F.2d 477, 480 n.2 (5th Cir. 1982) (dictum).
The case is remanded to the district court for such further proceedings as may be appropriate. We express no opinion whatever on the merits of the case except to note that, on its face, the complaint insofar as it seeks damages does not appear to be frivolous. For example, Ulmer alleges that he was denied exercise for seven months “to the point of being cripple [sic] from not exercising and having no room to move around in.” See Montana v. Commissioners Court, 659 F.2d 19, 22 (5th Cir. 1981) (per curiam), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1026, 102 S.Ct. 1730, 72 L.Ed.2d 147 (1982); McGruder v. Phelps, 608 F.2d 1023, 1025 (5th Cir. 1979) (citing cases).
In view of the fact that Ulmer currently is, and was at the time he filed this action, incarcerated in the State Penitentiary, not in the Jones County Jail, and he has not brought a class action, the petition for injunctive or declaratory relief may be moot, see Mitchum v. Purvis, 650 F.2d 647, 648 (5th Cir. 1981) (per curiam); Marden v. Int’l Ass’n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, 576 F.2d 576, 581-82 (5th Cir. 1978); Scott v. Jones, 492 F.2d 130 (5th Cir. 1974) (per curiam); Rhodes v. Bureau of Prisons, 477 F.2d 347 (5th Cir. 1973) (per curiam); Weaver v. Wilcox, 650 F.2d 22, 27 & n.13 (3d Cir. 1981), and nothing in this opinion prevents the disposition of some or all of the issues raised by the complaint on proper motion, duly noticed. However, the court shall accord this plaintiff the same notices and the same rights as other litigants. If his appearance in court is necessary to enable him to assert his interests and to protect his rights, an appropriate order for him to appear, by writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum, shall be issued.
Ulmer challenges the refusal of the district court to appoint counsel for him. A civil rights complainant has no right to the automatic appointment of counsel. Branch v. Cole, 686 F.2d 264 (5th Cir. 1982) (per curiam); Wright v. Dallas County Sheriffs Department, 660 F.2d 623, 625-26 (5th Cir. 1981). The trial court is not required to appoint counsel for an indigent plaintiff asserting a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Supp. Ill 1979) unless the case presents exceptional circumstances. Branch v. Cole, supra, 686 F.2d at 266.
The magistrate refused to appoint counsel for Ulmer because “it is doubtful that any relief may be granted, ... this is a fee producing case, if successful, and ... it would be oppressive to appoint involuntary counsel, and ... the petitioner has made no showing that he is unable to secure private counsel.” While Ulmer prays for the award of substantial damages, it is not so obvious to us as it was to the magistrate that counsel can readily be found to handle the case on a contingent fee basis for a person incarcerated at a place distant from the place of trial. Nor is it clear that all counsel would consider an appointment in this case “oppressive.” Public spirited lawyers often accept pro bono cases that they would decline to handle purely as fee producing matters, just as lawyers have done for centuries past. See Branch v. Cole, supra, 686 F.2d at 267, Ray v. Robinson, 640 F.2d 474, 478-79 (3d Cir. 1981). A lawyer should not be conscripted into a § 1983 case simply because he is a member of the bar, but this does not mean that all members of the bar should be denied the opportunity to assist the cause of justice under the authority of a court appointment. At any rate, it is not appropriate to presume that all the members of the bar would feel imposed upon even if, or perhaps especially if, relief is doubtful.
The district court may, therefore, appropriately require Ulmer to respond directly to an inquiry concerning what effort, if any, he has made to secure private counsel. Exercising its own judicial discretion, it should then determine whether this is an exceptional case in which the appointment of counsel is appropriate.
A federal court has discretion to appoint counsel if doing so would advance the proper administration of justice. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) (1976). Although “[n]o comprehensive definition of exceptional circumstances is practical,” Branch v. Cole, supra, 686 F.2d at 266, a number of factors should be considered in ruling on requests for appointed counsel. These include: (1) the type and complexity of the case, Branch v. Cole, supra, 686 F.2d at 266; Maclin v. Freake, 650 F.2d 885, 888 (7th Cir. 1981); (2) whether the indigent is capable of adequately presenting his case, Branch v. Cole, supra, 686 F.2d at 266; Maclin v. Freake, supra, 650 F.2d at 888; Drone v. Hutto, 565 F.2d 543, 544 (8th Cir. 1977); (3) whether the indigent is in a position to investigate adequately the case, Maclin v. Freake, supra, 650 F.2d at 888; White v. Walsh, 649 F.2d 560, 563 (8th Cir. 1981); Shields v. Jackson, 570 F.2d 284, 285-86 (8th Cir. 1978) (per curiam); Peterson v. Nadler, 452 F.2d 754 (5th Cir. 1971); and (4) whether the evidence will consist in large part of conflicting testimony so as to require skill in the presentation of evidence and in cross examination, Maclin v. Freake, supra, 650 F.2d at 888; Manning v. Lockhart, 623 F.2d 536, 540 (8th Cir. 1980).
The district court should also consider whether the appointment of counsel would be a service to Ulmer and, perhaps, the court and defendant as well, by sharpening the issues in the case, shaping the examination of witnesses, and thus shortening the trial and assisting in a just determination. See Knighton v. Watkins, 616 F.2d 795, 799 (5th Cir. 1980).
For these reasons, the judgment of dismissal is REVERSED and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
. It is not entirely clear that Ulmer is still seeking damages. Although his original complaint stated that he sought compensatory and punitive damages, he subsequently filed an amended complaint that did not include such a prayer. In his “Motion to Amend Complaint,” however, Ulmer indicates that the amendment was intended only to allege additional mistreatment. Because these pleadings were drafted by a pro se prisoner, not a lawyer, we construe them liberally. Hogan v. Midland County Commissioners Court, 680 F.2d 1101, 1103 (5th Cir. 1982) (per curiam). We, therefore, assume that Ulmer still seeks damages.

Question: What is the total number of appellants in the case that fall into the category "private business and its executives"? Answer with a number.

Choices:

Answer: 0