Unlocking American Discovery For Foreign Cases: A Primer On Section 1782

For foreign litigants and their counsel, a law in the United States known col-loquially as “Section 1782” (28 U.S.C. §1782) offers both an opportunity and a challenge. Section 1782 allows parties to existing or contemplated foreign pro-ceedings—or other persons with an interest in those proceedings—to obtain evidence located in the United States.

Applicants may seek documents, witness tes-timony, and other forms of discovery for use in the foreign proceeding. It offers foreign litigants access to the relatively broad discovery afforded in the United States for use in foreign proceed-ings, where discovery may be limited. Here, we examine how Section 1782 applications work, courts’ considerations when deciding whether to grant them, and strategies for crafting and opposing them.