Opinion ID: 1199950
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Necessity of a Remand

Text: The record does not reveal whether the Peters are of sufficiently modest means or whether the discovery master's fees will be sufficiently high as to call into question the Peters' meaningful access to the justice system. For example, it is unclear from the record to what extent any benefit or settlement payments already made by Progressive to the Peters have affected the Peters' ability to pay master's fees. [56] Although the Peters did include financial hardship as an issue in their opposition to Progressive's motion for appointment of a master, it is unclear whether the superior court considered the parties' financial status before issuing the order. Accordingly, we remand to give the court an opportunity to evaluate the Peters' claim of economic hardship and to determine a fair and reasonable means of compensating the discovery master should the court determine that a master is appropriate in this case. [57] Judge Brown arguably could have viewed the debate regarding Progressive's motion for a protective order, during which the Peters filed an opposition with over one hundred pages of exhibits, as a harbinger of future contentiousness between the parties. Indeed, such a prediction is borne out by the vast number of post -appointment discovery requests submitted by the Peters. [58] Thus, we cannot say that the trial judge abused his discretion in appointing a master given the circumstances of this case. But because we have not previously articulated factors for trial courts to consider when appointing a discovery master, and because a remand is necessary in any event to resolve the Peters' claim of financial hardship, we believe the superior court should have an opportunity on remand to review its referral order in light of the basic principles we have articulated to determine whether a master is appropriate in this case. In doing so, the superior court may find it necessary to review the entire course of discovery, including post-appointment requests.