Taggares

The issue before us involves a sua sponte court appointment of a privately compensated discovery referee to resolve an uncomplicated discovery dispute and all future ones which may arise, in which defendants were ordered to assume responsibility for all reference fees because plaintiff is indigent.

I

Trial courts utilize discovery references to reduce: the tension between contentious discovery disputants; burgeoning caseloads; and the perception that time constraints require directing judicial priorities elsewhere. Code of Civil Procedure sections 639 and 645.1 provide the courts broad discretion to refer such disputes to a master for recommended disposition and to require the litigants to pay the cost incurred. Difficulty arises, however, where one party has the wherewithal to finance the reference and the other does not.

Here, the trial court summarily appointed a private discovery referee without ascertaining the financial status of either party, and ordered the cost to be divided equally. After learning plaintiff was indigent, the court purported to resolve their economic disparity by modifying its order to require the affluent defendants to pay the entire cost of…