ACAN News

Save the Date for the 2026 ACAN March 11-13, 2026 in Berkeley, California.

News and Updates

• ACAN Co-Hosts First-Ever Full Day Program on Ethics for Court-Appointed Neutrals (June 2025)
• ACAN's Board Unanimously Adopts a Resolution Supporting Judicial Independence (May 2025)
• ACAN Launches New Virtual Member Orientation to Help Members Connect and Engage (April 2025)
• ACAN Celebrates It's 20th Anniversary at the 2025 Annual Meeting (March 2025)
• ACAN Executive Director Merril Hirsh Publishes "What's in a Name" in Court Review (January 2025)
• ACAN Announces 2025 Incubator Program Cohort (February 2025)
• ACAN Launches First Wednesday Forum: A New Monthly Member Discussion Series (September 2024)
• ACAN Publishes Guiding Principles to Establish Professional Standards for Court-Appointed Neutrals (May 2024)
• ACAN Applauds the Indiana Commercial Courts Committee for Amending its Commercial Court of Rules to Use the Term "Court-Appointed Neutral" in the Place of "Special Master." (April 25, 2024)
• New Jersey Has Joined Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware to Become the Fourth State Specifically to Reject the Use of the Term "Master" for Officers Appointed to Assist in Dispute Resolution (April 19, 2024)
• The Board of Governors of the American Judges Association Unanimously Passed a Resolution in Support of Ceasing to use theTerm “Master” or “Special master” and Supporting the Use of “Court – Appointed Neutrals” in American Jurisdictions. (April 6, 2024)
• ACAN President Randi Ilyse Roth Submits Letter Supporting American Bar Association Effort to Amend the Federal Rules to Substitute “Court-Appointed Neutral” for “Master (April 5, 2024)
• ACAN Applauds the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges for Adopting a Resolution that Supports Many Initiatives in Broadening Our Profession (April 4, 2024)
• ACAN launches a campaign to “CANonize” Neutrals (November 3, 2023)
• American Bar Association Adopts Two Resolutions on Court-Appointed Neutrals (August 7, 2023)
• The Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals Establishes a Scholarship Fund to Help Those with Need Join and Participate in ACAN (June 20, 2023)
• A Movement Builds to Diversify Special Masters, Starts with a Name, Law.com article (May 18, 2023)
• ACAN Adds Two New Sections to the ACAN Benchbook (May 16, 2023)
• American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution Votes to Co-Sponsor Two Resolutions on Court-Appointed Neutrals (May 9, 2023)
• American Bar Association Judicial Division Votes to Sponsor Two Resolutions on Court-Appointed Neutrals (April 25, 2023)

Press Releases

• The Academy Of Court-Appointed Neutrals Applauds Request By The American Bar Association To Amend Federal Rules To Substitute The Term “Court-Appointed Neutral” For “Master” And To Permit The Use Of Court-Appointed Neutrals In Bankruptcy Proceedings (February 12, 2024)

• The Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals Announces the 2023 Edition of the ACAN Benchbook And New Publicly-Available Training Materials (January 18, 2023)

• The Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals Announces a New Way to "Find a Neutral" (December 7, 2022)

• The Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals Welcomes the Justice Administration Community to its Annual Meeting at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego, CA, March 10-12, 2023 (November 16, 2022)

• The Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals Opens Applications for the First Ever Incubator Program to Train and Mentor Neutrals to Serve Courts (November 8, 2022)

• The Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals Applauds National Association of Womens Judges' Resolution in Support of Ceasing to Use the Term "Master" or "Special Master" and of the Use of "Court-Appointed Neutrals" (October 31, 2022)

• Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals Applauds Decision by ABA Committee to Also Change Its Name and to Issue a New Draft Model Rule for Court-Appointed Neutrals (August 1, 2022)

• The 'Academy of Court-Appointed Masters' is Now 'The Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals (ACAN)' (July 7, 2022)

• Academy of Court-Appointed Masters Announces Special Masters 101 Training May 4, 2022 and May 5-6 Annual Meeting (April 4, 2022)
• Academy of Court-Appointed Masters Announces Program to Train and Mentor New Special Masters and Improve the Profession (January 24, 2022)
• Academy of Court-Appointed Masters Opens Membership to Help People Become Special Masters; Former Director of the Federal Judicial Center Hon. Jeremy Fogel (Ret.) to Participate in Development Training for the Profession (November 19, 2021)
• Academy of Court-Appointed Masters to Open Its Membership to Help People Become Special Masters and Expand the Profession (September 2, 2021)

Media Appearances

• ACAN Past-President David Tenner Addressing the Court-Appointed Neutral Announcement in the Dominion v. Fox News Trial (Morning Rush - April 13, 2023)

• What a Special Master Does, as Told by a Special Master, David Cohen (NPR - September 5, 2022)

• ACAN President David Tenner on Using Court-Appointed Neutrals in the Review of Records Part 2 (Newsy - September 6, 2022)

• ACAN President David Tenner on Using Court-Appointed Neutrals in the Review of Records (Newsy - August 30, 2022)