After plaintiffs said a special master’s hourly rate is at the top of the scale for New Jersey, the judge in a fraudulent-concealment case against BASF and law firm Cahill, Gordon & Reindel has replaced the first candidate with someone—a former justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court—who charges less.
Chief U.S. Judge Jose Linares appointed Garrett Brown Jr. as discovery special master June 8 in Williams v. BASF Catalysts. Plaintiffs in the suit have alleged that Cahill Gordon and BASF conspired to destroy evidence in a series of asbestos injury suits. But Brown “declined to serve as special master” after plaintiffs said his $900 hourly rate was “at the highest end of New Jersey legal billing rates” and said the cost could be “prohibitive” in light of the contentious nature of the case. On Aug. 3, a new special master was appointed—former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto, whose hourly rate is $695.
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