Court Opinion

ID: 9838140
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-05 14:00:52.183648+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:45:32.876462
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                             FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
                                      ____________
No. 22-5102                                                 September Term, 2023
                                                                       1:21-cv-02679-UNA
                                                       Filed On: September 5, 2023
Helga G. Suarez Clark,

              Appellant

       v.

United States of America, et al.,

              Appellees

            ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                      FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

       BEFORE:       Henderson, Walker, and Garcia, Circuit Judges

                                     JUDGMENT

        This appeal was considered on the record from the United States District Court
for the District of Columbia and on the brief filed by appellant. See Fed. R. App. P.
34(a)(2); D.C. Cir. Rule 34(j). Upon consideration of the foregoing and the motions to
appoint counsel, it is

        ORDERED that the motions to appoint counsel be denied. In civil cases,
appellants are not entitled to appointment of counsel when they have not demonstrated
sufficient likelihood of success on the merits. It is

         FURTHER ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the district court’s March 29, 2022
order be affirmed. The district court did not err by dismissing the case without prejudice
after denying appellant’s motions to extend the time to file, and to file out of time, an
amended complaint. Because appellant’s proposed amended complaint did not set
forth “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to
relief,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a), the district court correctly concluded that allowing appellant
to file the amended complaint out of time would be futile, see Singletary v. Howard
Univ., 939 F.3d 287, 295 (D.C. Cir. 2019).
                 United States Court of Appeals
                            FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
                                     ____________
No. 22-5102                                                September Term, 2023

        Pursuant to D.C. Circuit Rule 36, this disposition will not be published. The Clerk
is directed to withhold issuance of the mandate herein until seven days after resolution
of any timely petition for rehearing or petition for rehearing en banc. See Fed. R. App.
P. 41(b); D.C. Cir. Rule 41.

                                       Per Curiam

                                                         FOR THE COURT:
                                                         Mark J. Langer, Clerk

                                                 BY:     /s/
                                                         Daniel J. Reidy
                                                         Deputy Clerk

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