Another U.S. Circuit Prevents the Use of § 1782(a) Discovery In Private Foreign Arbitrations | ZFZ Postcard Cases
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently addressed the issue whether a private foreign arbitration is “a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal” under § 1782(a).
The Court answered in the negative, holding that § 1782(a) only authorizes courts to utilize § 1782(a) discovery in state-sponsored foreign tribunals.
Interestingly, there is a split amongst the U.S. circuit courts. The Second and Fifth Circuits previously ruled that private foreign arbitrations do not fall under § 1782(a). Recently, the Sixth and Fourth Circuits ruled in the affirmative. There is a pending case addressing the same issue in the Ninth Circuit.
We are curious to see if this issue reaches the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the circuit split on the use of § 1782(a) discovery in private foreign arbitrations.
Read more on the decision here.