News Release

Academy of Court-Appointed Masters Announces Special Masters 101 Training May 4, 2022 and May 5-6, Annual Meeting

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 4, 2022 - On May 4, 2022, at 1:30-5:00 pm EDT, the Academy of Court-Appointed Masters (ACAM) will be conducting “Special Masters 101” – the second of ACAM’s three planned 2022 training programs. This live program will be at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia and will be followed by a welcome reception from 5:30-7:00 pm. It is designed to discuss what a special master needs to know – including

  • the special master’s role
  • getting the first appointment and what you should know about it
  • appointment orders
  • how special masters can help their legal community, and
  • a view from the bench from retired Federal Judicial Center Director and Judge Jeremy Fogel. 

This program follows on our successful “Pathways to Becoming a Special Master” webinar, which ACAM will soon make available for video streaming on its website. 

For non-members, the May 4 Special Masters 101 training and reception are available for $300 and you can register here.

But if you join ACAM, the price is only $50 for this half-day of training and you will also receive the opportunity to stay for our May 5-6 Annual Meeting at a first-time attendee rate of $300.  That’s a total of $350 for a half-day of training and a day-and-a half Annual Meeting with meals and a dinner reception. 

Joining ACAM will also allow you to apply to participate in our third and most ambitious program.  This fall, ACAM will be conducting the first ever incubator program designed to create a class of ’22 – a cohort of mentors and mentees who will work to advance each other in the profession.  You can see a draft concept paper for this creative program here.

You can apply to join ACAM here.

ACAM President, David Tenner noted that “for those who do join, ACAM’s Annual Meeting (also at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia on May 5-6) will be an education (and career-building opportunity) in itself.”  Want to learn what judges expect from special masters?  At the Annual Meeting, representatives of the National Judicial College (Georgia Supreme Court Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua),  the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (Current President and District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Hiram E. Puig-Logo) and, the American Judges Association (Immediate Past President Hon. Peter Sferrazza) will speak to us.  We hope to make this the start of reciprocal programs where ACAM members speak to these and other organizations of judges at their annual meetings. 

United States District Judge U. W. Clemon (N.D. Ala.) will also participate on a panel moderated by former ACAM President Ed Gentle on Mass Tort Mediation Strategies and Tactics. 

What’s more:

  • ACAM Annual Meeting Co-Chair Greg Whitehair will join Texas IP Specialist Gale (“Pete”) Peterson to discuss “the Selection, Care, and Feeding of a Master in an IP Case.”
  • ACAM President-Elect Randi Ilyse Roth will lead a panel on Special Master Ethics that includes Carolyn Dubay, who has served as Executive Director North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission and Nebraska Law Professor Kristen Blankley, co-chair of the ABA Dispute Resolution Section Ethics Committee.
  • ACAM Treasurer Deborah Greenspan will lead a panel on the Multiple Different Roles and Tasks of Special Masters.
  • You’ll receive updates on major changes in the profession.  Several panels, including one conducted by ACAM co-founder Roger Haydock and another with former ACAM President Cary Ichter will update people on the dramatic expansion of both ACAM’s and the ABA’s efforts to broaden, diversify, train and mentor the profession and to partner across a wide spectrum of organizations to increase the use and effectiveness of special masters; and raise the serious question of whether it is time to use a different name besides “special masters” to describe the extraordinary breadth of services our members perform.
  • You’ll be able to meet and break bread with judges, colleagues and stakeholders – an experience we can all use.

ACAM Executive Director Merril Hirsh added that “we are particularly excited about having our first live meeting in two years and the first meeting after we launched our program to broaden ACAM’s membership and increase the service its members provide to the administration of justice.  We hope to see you all in Atlanta, May 4 to 6!”

People interested in learning more about ACAM and its plans or receiving training, can contact Mr. Hirsh at ExecDir@courtappointedmasters.org, (202) 448-9020.