Second Circuit Reaffirms Federal Courts May Not Order Discovery For Private Commercial Arbitrations Abroad

In In Re Guo, No. 19-781, 2020 WL 3816098 (2d Cir. July 8, 2020), as amended (July 9, 2020) ¹, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit evaluated whether the Supreme Court's decision in Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 542 U.S. 241 (2004), required reconsideration of the Second Circuit's prior holding that 28 U.S.C. §1782(a) is inapplicable to discovery sought in connection with private international commercial arbitrations.² See National Broadcasting Co. v. Bear Stearns & Co., 165 F.3d 184 (2d Cir. 1999) ("NBC"). After carefully considering the Supreme Court's analysis in Intel and recognizing the existence of a circuit split on the issue, the Second Circuit reaffirmed its prior decision, concluding that "nothing in the Supreme Court's Intel decision alters our prior conclusion in NBC that §1782(a) does not extend to private international commercial arbitrations."