Discovery in International Arbitration: The Ever-Expanding Scope

Highlights

• Two recent U.S. federal appellate court decisions addressing a U.S. statute often used to obtain discovery for use in international arbitration will have a significant impact on the conduct of cross-border dispute resolution.
• In the first case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently allowed parties engaged in private international arbitration with a situs outside of the U.S. to obtain discovery in the U.S. In so doing, the court was called upon to interpret a federal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1782 (a). Under § 1782 (a), a U.S. federal district court "in the district in which a person resides or is found" may order discovery "for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal" upon application by "any interested person."