For the second time in a month, the judge in a fraudulent-concealment case against BASF and law firm Cahill, Gordon & Reindel is hearing grumbling over his choice of discovery special master.

Lawyers for Cahill Gordon and BASF asked Chief U.S. Judge Jose Linares on Aug. 8 to select a different special master based on alleged conflicts of interest surrounding the appointment of former Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto. But Rivera-Soto wrote to Linares on Aug. 11 to say the issues raised do not impair his ability to serve as special master.

The dispute comes not long after plaintiffs expressed unhappiness about the $900 hourly rate of the first special master appointed by Linares, Garrett Brown Jr., former chief U.S. judge for the District of New Jersey, was too expensive. After Brown declined to serve, Rivera-Soto was appointed discovery master Aug. 3 in Williams v. BASF Catalysts. Rivera-Soto, who is with Ballard Spahr in Cherry Hill, has an hourly rate of $695.