Rule 3.922.Form and contents of order appointing referee

Rule 3.922 is the detailed checklist behind every section 639 appointment order. A written order is required regardless of whether the referee was requested by a party's motion or ordered on the court's own initiative, and that order has to address every topic the rule lists rather than leaving gaps for later disputes to fill. It has to give the referee's name, business address, telephone number, and State Bar number if the referee belongs to the bar, and it has to specify which paragraph of section 639(a) supports the appointment, with the reason stated for paragraphs (1) through (4) and, for a discovery referee under paragraph (5), the exceptional circumstances that make the appointment necessary. The order also has to define the subject matter of the reference and, for a discovery referee, say whether the appointment covers all purposes or only limited ones, and it has to spell out that referee's specific authority to set hearing dates, direct subpoenas, preside over hearings, take evidence, and rule on objections and other requests during a hearing.

The fee provisions get their own detailed treatment. If the referee is being appointed at a cost to the parties, the order must set a maximum hourly rate, and a maximum number of hours if any party asks for one, along with a finding that either no party has shown an inability to pay its pro rata share or that a party who has shown that inability will have another party voluntarily cover the extra cost. If a party raises economic hardship before the referee starts performing services, the court has to determine a reasonable apportionment of the reference costs, and it can later modify that apportionment, considering any recommendation the referee makes as one factor in the decision. Finally, the order has to state the extent, if any, to which court facilities and personnel may be used in connection with the reference.