“Court Finds Pre-Hearing Nonparty Deposition Subpoenas Permitted by FAA, and Rule 45 Territorial Limit Not a Bar for Virtual Deposition”

JD Supra has published this article by Alex Silverman of Carlton Fields, discussing the District Court of Minnesota’s recent decision in International Seaway Trading Corp. v. Target Corp., disagreeing with decisions from other circuits and holding that Eighth Circuit precedent permitting a pre-hearing document subpoena also authorizes pre-hearing deposition subpoenas. According to the court, “[t]he same interest in efficiency [warranting pre-hearing review of documents] supports the Court’s conclusion here: implicit in an arbitrator’s power to subpoena a witness to testify before him or her at a hearing is the power to order the witness to testify at a pre-hearing deposition so that the parties may review and digest the relevant testimony before the hearing occurs.”