Model orders for appointing a discovery special master, referee, or forensic neutral.

SAMPLE — ADAPT WITH COUNSEL

[CAPTION]

ORDER APPOINTING SPECIAL MASTER FOR DISCOVERY
(Fed. R. Civ. P. 53)

The Court, finding that the discovery in this action presents issues
that cannot be effectively and timely addressed by the Court, and good
cause appearing, ORDERS as follows:

1.  APPOINTMENT. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 53, the
    Court appoints [NEUTRAL NAME] as Special Master to address the
    discovery matters described below.

2.  DUTIES. The Special Master is authorized to supervise, hear, and
    make recommendations or determinations on discovery disputes,
    including disputes concerning the preservation, collection, search,
    review, and production of electronically stored information (ESI),
    privilege, and forensic inspection protocols.

3.  AUTHORITY. The Special Master may conduct conferences, require
    written submissions, set deadlines, and recommend or, where the
    parties so stipulate, decide the referred matters. The Special
    Master may communicate ex parte with the Court regarding logistics
    and the status of the reference.

4.  STANDARD OF REVIEW. The Court will review de novo all objections to
    findings of fact and conclusions of law made or recommended by the
    Special Master. The Court will review rulings on procedural matters
    for abuse of discretion. (Parties may modify by stipulation.)

5.  RECORD. The Special Master shall maintain a record sufficient to
    permit review and shall file reports and recommendations with the
    Court, serving copies on all parties.

6.  COMPENSATION. The Special Master shall be compensated at the rate
    administered through JAMS, allocated [ALLOCATION] among the parties,
    subject to reallocation by the Court.

7.  COMMUNICATIONS & EX PARTE. Except as provided in paragraph 3, the
    Special Master shall not communicate ex parte with any party on the
    merits of a referred dispute.

8.  TERM. This appointment continues until the referred matters are
    resolved or until further order of the Court.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: [DATE]                         ____________________________
                                        United States District Judge

Tailor the scope in ¶ 2, the standard of review in ¶ 4, and the compensation allocation in ¶ 6 to the matter. Rule 53 requires notice and an opportunity to be heard before appointment, and an order that states the master's duties and the basis and terms of compensation.

SAMPLE — ADAPT WITH COUNSEL

[CAPTION]

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER APPOINTING
DISCOVERY REFEREE (Code Civ. Proc. § 638)

The parties, by and through their counsel of record, STIPULATE as
follows and request that the Court enter the order below:

1.  REFERENCE. Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 638(a), the
    parties agree to refer to a referee all discovery disputes arising
    in this action for hearing and determination.

2.  REFEREE. The parties stipulate to the appointment of
    [NEUTRAL NAME] as discovery referee.

3.  POWERS. The referee shall hear and determine the referred discovery
    matters and report a statement of decision to the Court. The
    referee may set procedures, require written submissions, hold
    conferences, and issue recommendations and rulings on the referred
    disputes.

4.  EFFECT OF DECISION. The referee's determinations on referred
    discovery matters shall stand as decisions of the Court, subject to
    the parties' rights to object and to the Court's review as provided
    by law.

5.  FEES. The referee's fees shall be administered through JAMS and
    borne [ALLOCATION], subject to reallocation by the Court or the
    referee for conduct warranting a shift.

6.  COMMUNICATIONS. The referee may communicate with the Court
    regarding the status and logistics of the reference.

IT IS SO STIPULATED.

Dated: [DATE]     ____________________   ____________________
                      Counsel for Plaintiff   Counsel for Defendant

                          [PROPOSED] ORDER
Good cause appearing, the Court appoints [NEUTRAL NAME] as discovery
referee on the terms stipulated above.

Dated: [DATE]                         ____________________________
                                        Judge of the Superior Court

Section 638 permits appointment by the parties' agreement. Where there is no agreement, section 639 allows appointment on the court's own motion in defined circumstances; that route uses different findings and a different order.

SAMPLE — ADAPT WITH COUNSEL

ESI PROTOCOL MEDIATION CLAUSE

Before either party moves for relief concerning electronically stored
information — including disputes over the ESI protocol, search
methodology (including technology-assisted review), custodians, scope,
form of production, or privilege review methodology — the parties shall
first submit the dispute to a neutral for mediation.

The parties designate [NEUTRAL NAME] as the ESI neutral, whose engagement
shall be administered through JAMS. The neutral may convene
conferences, request informal submissions, and propose a resolution.

If the dispute is not resolved within [NUMBER] days of submission, either
party may seek relief from the Court or, in arbitration, from the
tribunal. Nothing in this clause limits a party's right to seek
emergency preservation relief.

Drop this into a case-management stipulation, an ESI protocol, or an arbitration agreement. Set the cooling-off period in days to fit the schedule.

SAMPLE — ADAPT WITH COUNSEL

[CAPTION]

STIPULATED FORENSIC INSPECTION PROTOCOL

1.  NEUTRAL EXAMINER. The parties stipulate to [NEUTRAL NAME] as the
    neutral forensic examiner. The examiner's engagement is
    administered through JAMS. The examiner is neutral and does not
    represent any party.

2.  SCOPE. The examiner may forensically image and examine the
    following sources: [DEVICES / SYSTEMS / ACCOUNTS], limited to the
    following date range and search criteria: [CRITERIA].

3.  CHAIN OF CUSTODY. The examiner shall create and preserve forensic
    images, document the chain of custody, and use validated tools and
    repeatable methods.

4.  PRIVILEGE & PRIVACY. Before any material is disclosed to a
    requesting party, the producing party shall review the examiner's
    candidate set for privilege and privacy and produce a log of
    withholdings. The examiner shall not disclose source material
    except the agreed work product described in paragraph 5.

5.  WORK PRODUCT. The examiner shall produce only [DEFINED OUTPUT]
    (e.g., responsive files, hash lists, activity timelines) and shall
    not provide unfettered access to the imaged sources.

6.  DISPUTES. Disputes about scope, methodology, or disclosure shall be
    presented first to the examiner and, if unresolved, to the Court.

7.  COST. The examiner's fees shall be borne [ALLOCATION], subject to
    reallocation by the Court.

SO STIPULATED.

The point of a neutral protocol is to give the requesting party meaningful discovery while protecting the producing party's privilege, privacy, and trade secrets. Define the permitted output precisely in ¶ 5.

SAMPLE — ADAPT WITH COUNSEL

AI / ALGORITHM DISCOVERY CLAUSE

Where discovery concerns an artificial-intelligence or algorithmic
system — including models, training or fine-tuning data, weights,
prompts, configuration, or outputs — the parties shall present
disputes over the production, inspection, or testing of such systems
to a neutral with technical competence before seeking relief.

The parties designate [NEUTRAL NAME], whose engagement is administered
through JAMS, and agree that proceedings concerning AI/algorithm
disputes may be conducted consistent with the JAMS AI Dispute
Resolution Rules and Procedures.

The neutral may design a protocol governing how the system is produced
or inspected, including secure inspection environments, reproducibility
and testing conditions, and protection of trade secrets, and may
resolve disputes about that protocol.

The JAMS AI Dispute Resolution Rules — which Daniel Garrie co-created — provide a framework purpose-built for these disputes. Adapt the protocol to whether the fight is about the model, the data, or the outputs.