A federal judicial disagreement on the extent to which a discovery statute applies to private arbitration is the subject of a new commentary by the dean and a student researcher here at the University of Georgia School of Law.

Coauthoring the Daily Report article, entitled “Circuit Split Deepened by Second Circuit’s ‘Functional’ Test Application in Recent Section 1782 Ruling,” were international business law expert Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge, Dean and Herman E. Talmadge Chair of Law at Georgia  Law, along with 2L Emina Sadic Herzberger.

The article concerns whether 28 U.S.C. § 1782 – which authorizes discovery for use in proceedings before a “foreign or international tribunal” – extends to proceedings before private arbitral tribunals. The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 4th and 6th Circuits generally say yes; for the 2d and 5th Circuits, no. The doctrine is uncertain, the authors point out, in the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit.

Their full commentary is here.