Picture your client telling you they were considering starting a
litigation, but that they did not yet have all the facts needed for
you to prepare a pleading. Now add the wrinkle that the action
would need to be forumed in a foreign country, one with discovery
rules narrower than those in the United States, and then the
kicker, that some of the relevant documents are held by third
parties outside of the planned litigation forum. Although your
initial reaction might be that your client is out of luck, 28
U.S.C. § 1782, which allows foreign litigants (or soon-to-be
litigants) to obtain discovery in the United States, under U.S.
discovery rules, for use in a pending or contemplated foreign
proceeding, might offer some help.
