Nate A. Lindell v. Ashley Suprise

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
NATE A. LINDELL,
Plaintiff,
v.
ASHLEY SUPRISE,
Defendant.
OPINION and ORDER
23-cv-805-amb
Plaintiff’s pretrial filings were due on January 15, 2026. 	The court received an email
on January 21, 2026 sent by non-party Brianna Burton purportedly on behalf of plaintiff that
attaches plaintiff’s pretrial filings. Also attached is a motion for leave to file these submissions
late, explaining that plaintiff’s USB drive failed and he received a conduct report for allegedly
disruptive behavior that resulted in a sanction of cell confinement for seven days.
Plaintiff has stated that Burton is his agent, but parties in federal court must litigate
their cases “personally or by counsel.” 28 U.S.C. § 1654. For good reason, non-lawyers cannot
represent others, including by filing motions, Lewis v. Lenc-Smith Mfg. Co., 784 F.2d 829, 830–
31 (7th Cir. 1986), even if the non-attorney is a concerned citizen, Georgakis v. Ill. State Univ.,
722 F.3d 1075, 1077 (7th Cir. 2013). 	Beyond these important points, Burton and plaintiff
have already been warned that the court does not accept filings by email—either to the
helpdesk email or the chambers’ generic email. 	See Dkt. 95 at 2 in Case No. 23-cv-811-jdp
(“This court does not allow the filing of submissions by email, so both Burton and Lindell
should refrain from doing so.”).
Attached to this order are the attachments received from Burton. 	Plaintiff is
representing himself and is incarcerated, but he is an experienced litigator in this court who
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has shown himself capable of filing his own submissions. See, e.g., Dkts. 4, 5, 7, & 8. Although
his current institution does not participate in the e-filing program, he is still able to mail his
submissions to the court. See, e.g., Dkts. 16, 33, 76, & 95. Plaintiff is therefore ORDERED to
mail copies of any pretrial filings he would like the court to consider, and any response to
defendant’s pretrial filings, by January 29, 2026 for docketing. 	To avoid mail delay, defense
counsel is ORDERED to send prison officials an electronic copy of this order and attachments
for immediate distribution to plaintiff.
SO ORDERED.
Entered January 22, 2026.
BY THE COURT:
/s/
________________________________________
ANITA MARIE BOOR
Magistrate Judge
Case: 3:23-cv-00805-amb Document #: 103 Filed: 01/22/26 Page 2 of 2