The Seventh Circuit, in Servotronics, Inc. v. Rolls-Royce PLC is the most recent appellate court to weigh in on the question of whether 28 U.S.C. 1782(a) authorizes a judge to compel discovery in a foreign arbitration. As the court noted, the statute “authorizes the district court to order a person within the district to give testimony or produce documents ‘for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal.'”
In holding that an international arbitration does not constitute “a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal,” the court reached the same conclusion as did the Second Circuit recently.
For references to recent articles discussing the split among the circuits on this issue, see here and here.
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