Rule 53.Masters

Nevada courts can only appoint a master in limited circumstances, when the parties consent to it, when a pretrial or posttrial matter cannot be handled effectively or in time by an available judge, or, in a nonjury case, when an exceptional condition or a difficult accounting or damages computation justifies it. Before appointing anyone, the court has to weigh the expense a master would impose on the parties and guard against unreasonable expense or delay. Appointment can come by the parties' own stipulation, which may lock in how the master's factual findings will be reviewed or whether they will be treated as final, or by motion or an order to show cause. Any party can object to a particular appointee on specific grounds, family or business ties to a party, prior involvement in the case as a juror or witness, a formed opinion about the merits, or bias, and a prospective master has to disclose any disqualifying circumstance under the judicial conduct rules, with disqualification the default unless the parties waive it with the court's approval. The order appointing a master has to spell out the master's duties and limits, any allowed ex parte communication, record-keeping requirements, deadlines, and the basis for compensation, and it can add optional limits, like confining the master to particular issues or a set hearing schedule.

Once appointed, a master can regulate the proceedings, compel and record evidence, including issuing subpoenas, and, on request, has to preserve a record of evidence offered and excluded. The master must act with reasonable diligence, setting an initial meeting within 21 days of appointment and moving the matter along even if a party fails to appear, and any party can ask the court to speed things up. When accounting issues are involved, the master has added tools for handling account statements and resolving objections to them. The master's eventual report has to be filed promptly, include any required findings and conclusions, attach exhibits and a transcript, and be served on every party, and a master may share a draft with counsel first to gather input. Once the report is in, a party has 14 days to object or move to adopt or modify it, with 7 more days for a response to any objection; if nobody objects, the court can adopt the report without a hearing, and otherwise the court can adopt, reverse, or modify the master's work, hold its own hearing, or send the matter back to the master, unless the parties already stipulated that the findings would be final. Compensation is fixed by the court, paid by the parties or from a fund under the court's control, and allocated by weighing the size of the dispute, the parties' means, and which party bears more responsibility for needing a master in the first place; if a party ordered to pay does not do so, the master can obtain a writ of execution. Separate provisions let a judicial district appoint standing masters, by local rule or statute, to handle recurring categories of matters, with compensation paid out of the district's own budget rather than by the parties.