An indigent prisoner filed this medical malpractice case, claiming that the defendant doctor had failed to tighten a screw in the artificial elbow he implanted in plaintiff’s right arm, with the result that the screw came loose, causing serious injury to plaintiff’s arm. The trial court denied plaintiff’s motion for appointment of a lawyer and a medical expert. This opinion holds that the trial court abused its discretion in doing so because it failed to take into account plaintiff’s right to meaningful access to the courts and the various alternatives that the court might exercise in this case to assure that access.