Alex Lawrence contributed to
Mealey's International Arbitration Report,
which asked industry experts and leaders for their thoughts
on ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd., in which
the U.S. Supreme Court held that Section 1782 discovery is
available only for governmentally authorized foreign proceedings,
resolving a circuit split and excluding discovery for ad hoc or
private commercial arbitrations.
“The Court's decision appears, at least in part,
motivated by the fact that the parties opted for and consented to
arbitration,” Alex wrote. “The parties could have
resolved their dispute before a court, but they chose to arbitrate.
Arbitrations are meant to be faster and more efficient, which is
often inconsistent with broad and costly U.S.-style discovery.
Thus, when they signed up for arbitration, the parties should have
known that they were not getting access to U.S. federal courts and
broad document discovery and depositions.”
