Working As A Special Master

Serving as a special master requires integrity, discretion, and the exercise of good judgment. It also requires that the assigned work be attended to in a manner that allows the case before the court to move ahead in an orderly manner. Mr. Gonzalez's many appointments as a special master, as well as the distinction of his membership in the Academy of Court of Appointed Masters, attest to the fact that he brings these qualities to bear on the cases entrusted to him.

Mr. Gonzalez has simultaneously served three separate federal courts as a special master or court monitor, overseeing the implementation of court remedial decrees valued at more than $800 million. He presides at hearings, issues reports and recommendations on the procedural and substantive matters referred to him, and aids the parties in resolving disputes. His reputation for fairness among those with whom he works is such that, upon the successful mediation of one remedial decree, he was asked by the court and the parties to take on the role of special master, charged with assisting the court in the decree's implementation.

The decision to appoint a special master means that a case is invariably complex and time-consuming. Using a special master only makes sense if in doing so the court and the parties can increase the efficiency with which a case is handled. One federal judge for whom Mr. González worked as a special master for more than fifteen years wrote in a recently published opinion that "Mr. González's diligent and highly-skilled efforts made the Court's management of this case possible, and relieved the Court's staff of bearing the burden of supervising [the] case on a regular basis." Knight v. Alabama, 469 F. Supp.2d 1016, 1038 (N.D. Ala. 2006).

All of Mr. González's appointments have been for multiple years, and have involved business disputes or the reform of state agencies or institutions. In every case in which he has served as a special master, the appointing court has expanded his responsibilities beyond the scope of the initial referral.