Rule 4-209.1 Coordinating Special Master
Rule Text
(a) The Supreme Court of Georgia shall appoint a lawyer to serve as the Coordinating Special Master for disciplinary cases.
(b) The Supreme Court of Georgia annually shall appoint up to 20 lawyers to serve as Special Masters in disciplinary cases. The Court may reappoint lawyers appointed in prior years. When a case is assigned to a lawyer appointed as Special Master, such lawyer shall continue to serve as Special Master in that case until final disposition, unless the Coordinating Special Master or the Court directs otherwise, irrespective of whether such lawyer is reappointed to serve as Special Master for another year.
(c) The Coordinating Special Master and Special Masters shall serve at the pleasure of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
(d) No member of the State Disciplinary Board, State Disciplinary Review Board, Special Master Compensation Commission, or Executive Committee of the State Bar of Georgia shall be appointed to serve as Coordinating Special Master or as a Special Master.
(e) A list of the lawyers appointed by the Supreme Court of Georgia as Special Masters shall be published on the website of the State Bar of Georgia and annually in a regular publication of the State Bar of Georgia.
(f) Training for Special Masters is expected, and the Coordinating Special Master shall be responsible for the planning and conduct of training sessions, which the State Bar of Georgia shall make available without cost to Special Masters. At a minimum, a lawyer appointed for the first time as a Special Master should attend a training session within six months of his appointment. The failure of a Special Master to complete the minimum required training session shall not be a basis for a motion to disqualify a Special Master.
(g) A Special Master (including the Coordinating Special Master) shall be disqualified to serve in a disciplinary case when circumstances exist, which, if the Special Master were a judge, would require the recusal of the Special Master under the Code of Judicial Conduct. In the event that the Coordinating Special Master is disqualified in any case, the Supreme Court of Georgia shall assign the case to a Special Master, and the Court shall designate another Special Master to act as Coordinating Special Master for purposes of that case only.