GETTING TRAINED AS A SPECIAL MASTER AND MENTORED IN THE PROFESSION

In a December 7, 2021 guest post, I reported that the Academy of Court-Appointed Masters (ACAM) had opened up its membership to people who have never previously served as special masters and was working on a training and mentoring program.  OK, so here’s the sequel.

The Academy has now announced a new training and mentoring program for special masters.  This program was designed in conjunction with former Federal Judicial Center Director and Judge Jeremy Fogel.  And it is part of an effort to partner the special master profession with courts, court administrators, bar organizations, practitioners, ADR professionals and academic institutions to make special masters both more useful and more used to improve the administration of justice.

ACAM’s 2022 training program has three parts:

(1)  “Pathways to Becoming a Special Master.” On March 4, 2022 at 2pm EST/1pm CST/noon MST/11am PST, ACAM will be presenting a nationwide virtual program that will help people learn about what it takes to become a special master; what judges look for when they choose special masters; and how both the profession and training for it is about to change.

Judge Fogel will be joined by Senior Judges Michael J. Davis and Donovan Frank of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota; Judge Susan M. Robiner (Presiding Judge of the Civil Division of Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District) and Professor Ocampo Raeder of Carleton College.  Registration is $50 for ACAM Fellows, Members and Associates ($150 for others). Find out more, and register here.

(2)  Special Master 101 and the ACAM Annual Meeting: On May 4, 2022, ACAM is planning a half-day live program at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia to provide basic training on what a special master needs to know.  People who want to join ACAM can come for the training and stay for ACAM’s annual meeting, May 5-6—where there will be a program from the American Judges Association, and programs on intellectual property, the many roles of special masters, mass case settlements and special master ethics. ACAM will be sending out details and registration information for the training and the annual meeting shortly.

(3)  The First Ever – Special Master Incubator Program. In Fall 2022, ACAM will bring new trainees together with more experienced special masters and judges to create not just an education program but a mentoring pod—an ACAM Class of ’22— that will work together to continue learning from each other and helping each other advance.  Watch for details.

You can learn more about these developments on the Academy’s website here.

There is still a lot to do.  But if you are interested in learning more, please feel free to contact me at ExecDir@courtappointedmasters.org.

Photo by: Nick Morrison on Unsplash