united-states legal-terms
Does a &quot;special master&quot; imply a single individual or a team?
<p>Referring to the Cannon ruling on a special master to examine the Trump documents that were siezed: If and when a special master is appointed, is that individual the only one that can examine the documents, or can the special master employ a team to go through all the documents. If the special master is required to have secret security clearances (say from DoD), and that master has a team, would all the members of the team have to also have security clearances?</p>

<p>A special master is normally a single individual. One of the purposes of appointing a special master is to avoid the awkwardness of having a panel supervising an evidentiary hearing. Another is to save the time of the court itself. A special master is often a retired judge.</p>
