Despite the fact that court funding for the use of masters expired many decades ago, there are situations where the appointment of a special master can solve seemingly intractable cases.

In one recent case, featured in the news section of this website, the parties had been locked in contentious litigation for over ten years. Eventually, majority stockholders of a small Massachusetts manufacturing company owed almost $20 million in damages (including interest) for a minority shareholder derivative suit judgment (our firm did not represent the majority owners at trial). The minority shareholder aggressively pushed for the appointment of a receiver to sell the assets of the company to satisfy the judgment. In response, the majority asked, among other things, for the appointment of a special master to evaluate whether the judgment could be satisfied without selling the company. The court agreed, and, after much study, a master’s report was filed under seal following which the case settled on terms that are confidential. In this case, the parties shared the cost of the special master, a former judge who is a member of a national dispute resolution firm. There is no question that the appointment of the master resulted in settlement of the case.

In another case, an employee of a Florida subsidiary of a Massachusetts company claimed he was promised an equity interest in the parent company and brought suit in Massachusetts Superior Court. The case was spinning out of control. A decision in a full arbitration trial in Florida before a former federal court judge failed to compel resolution and discovery and motion practice proceeded unabated. On motion of the parent company the superior court appointed a special master to supervise discovery and thereafter conduct mediation. As most litigators will tell you, this is the holy grail for out-of-control cases in Massachusetts Superior Court – the appointment of someone to monitor the discovery stage of the case. The master supervised the completion of discovery and conducted a successful mediation of the case. In this instance, the parties were quite fortunate that a retired superior court judge had volunteered to take matters like this on a pro bono basis so the cost to the parties for the special master was zero.