Lu

We hold that under the California Standards of Judicial Administration for Complex Litigation (Cal. Standards Jud. Admin., § 19; hereafter complex litigation standard or the standard), a trial court has authority to appoint a discovery referee, even in the absence of a current discovery dispute. In such a complex case, the court also has authority to appoint the referee to conduct settlement conferences.

Facts

This is a construction defect case with a large number of separately represented parties. The trial court determined the case was complex and should be dealt with under the complex litigation standard and issued a case management order. The order provides inter alia for the appointment of a discovery referee. In addition, the order appoints the referee “as Mediator in the case, to attempt to assist the parties in resolving it.” The order further provides: “All mediation sessions are deemed to be Mandatory Settlement Conferences of this Court, . . . As to discovery disputes, each party to the dispute shall contribute equally to the compensation of Referee, subject to a recommendation for reallocation of such expense, depending on the outcome of the matter as…