Miscellaneous

What Becomes a Facilitator Most?

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Pa-chiiiing!

Call 'em what you like -- special masters, facilitators, referees, etc. They all have one pitfall in common: the potential for troubling fee schemes.

Who are these people? They are experts in their field. Judges trust and appoint them, attorneys love them, and parties rarely see what hit them but usually walk away happy. What's not to like?

The problem is that conflicts of interest can arise when it comes to the matter of paying them their very lucrative fees.

The most recent example comes from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. There, the court ombuds served as court-appointed facilitator in an EEOC suit. He billed the parties, as this was not part of his usual ombuds duties.

OK? Sure, said the court, which held that the ombuds and facilitator roles were totally unrelated to one another.

See Court Ombuds Permitted to Serve as Paid Facilitator, The Ombuds Blog (October 14, 2008). Nice blog but it appears to be written by elves.

Thanks to Deborah Laufer for the tip!

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on October 17, 2008 (boomark / email).