N.Y. CVP Law § 4312

Rule 4312. Number of referees; qualifications. 1. A court may\ndesignate either one or three referees; provided, however, a judicial\nhearing officer may be designated a referee, in which case there shall\nbe only one referee. Except by consent of the parties, no person shall\nbe designated a referee unless he is an attorney admitted to practice in\nthe state and in good standing. Where a referee may be designated by\nthe parties, they may designate any number of referees.\n 2. Except in matrimonial actions or where the reference is to a\njudicial hearing officer, a person to whom all the parties object may\nnot be designated as a referee. In matrimonial actions, only a judicial\nhearing officer or a special referee appointed by the chief\nadministrator of the courts may be designated to determine an issue. In\na matrimonial action the court shall not order a reference to a referee\nnominated by a party.\n 3. No person shall serve as referee who holds the position of court\nclerk, or clerk, secretary or stenographer to a judge; or who is the\npartner or clerk of an attorney for any party to the action or occupies\nthe same office with such attorney, except as provided in paragraph five\nof this rule.\n 4. A judge shall not serve as a referee in an action brought in a\ncourt of which he is a judge except by the written consent of the\nparties, and, in that case, he cannot receive any compensation as\nreferee.\n 5. In uncontested matrimonial actions, a court clerk, law secretary,\nor any other non-judicial employee of the court, who is an attorney in\ngood standing admitted to practice in the state, may be appointed by an\nadministrative judge to serve without fee as a referee for the purpose\nof hearing and reporting to the court.\n