“Independent calendar judge”, también conocido como “individual calendar judge” por contraste con “master calendar judge”. En el primer caso, el Tribunal asigna un juez a un caso para que asuma la responsabilidad del mismo en todas las fases procesales, es decir, audiencia preliminar (pretrial hearing) y juicio (trial) (simplificando un poco el proceso). Por el contrario, en la situación de “master calendar”, se establece de forma centralizada que un juez sea el encargado de asumir la responsabilidad de la audiencia preliminar y que este mismo juez puede ser, o puede no ser, quien esté presente más tarde en el acto del juicio.


Courts, Justice, and Efficiency: A Socio-legal Study of Economic Rationality
https://books.google.es/books?id=J6XbBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA231&lpg=P...
For example, a master vs. an individual calendar. A master calendar means that a case assignment is centrally controlled and that cases may be assigned to different judges at different procedural stages. An individual calendar means that one judge is responsible for an individual case during its entire life in court. The relative efficiency of both systems was frecuently discussed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

http://www.duanemorris.com/articles/static/seabolt_dailyjour...

In the master calendar system, cases are handled pretrial by a law and motion judge (and perhaps a discovery commissioner) and on the date set for trial are assigned from the master calendar department to an open trial department for trial before yet another judge. In contrast, in a direct calendar or independent calendar system, cases are assigned at the beginning of the case to a designated judge, who then handles all pretrial conferences and motions up to and through trial.
Some lawyers may like the master calendar system, but I have never met one.


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Note added at 2 hrs (2015-04-01 13:12:09 GMT)
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Este enlace explica bien el proceso de transición hacia el sistema, aparentemente más eficaz, de “independent calendar judge” (en referencia a Los Angeles Superior Court):
http://www.lacba.org/Files/LAL/Vol36No7/3083.pdf
Mastering the CALENDAR
The Los Angeles Superior Court’s consolidation plan involves more centralized case management
(…)
The beepers were necessary to cope with the backlog of cases. To end it, the court reorganized. By the early 1990s, the court had closed the Master Calendar Court and the eighth floor law and motion courts in favor of assigning all general jurisdiction civil cases to independent calendar courts (known as I/C courts) for all purposes, including trial. Consistent with the Trial Court Delay Reduction Act of 1990, the judicial branch introduced rules requiring counsel to appear for case management conferences (CMCs) and setting guidelines for trying all cases within 24 months of initial filing. The reorganization worked. Within a few years, the I/C courts significantly cut back on the backlog. By 2010, the I/C courts in Los Angeles tried most cases within 12 months of filing.

http://www.cookcountycourt.org/ABOUTTHECOURT/CountyDepartmen...
Individual Calendar Judge:
If your case is assigned to an Individual Calendar, all phases of the proceedings (preliminary, trial, and post decree) will be heard by one judge.