Ninth Circuit Greenlights Broad Use of Discovery In Foreign Proceedings

Litigants try to use 28 U.S.C. § 1782 applications to get tactical advantages in transnational litigation all the time. After all, the statute allows parties to foreign proceedings to get U.S.-style discovery by petitioning courts in the United States. A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit might well open the Section 1782 floodgates even wider. According to this new decision, Section 1782 can be used expansively in foreign proceedings not identified in the Section 1782 petition. Anyone facing Section 1782 discovery in the Ninth Circuit should be aware of this recent development and the steps they can take to limit further disclosure of their confidential information.

In Novalpina Capital Partners I GP S.A.R.L. v. Read , the Ninth Circuit ruled that neither the text of Section 1782,