Fighting About Obtaining Discovery In International Arbitration Pending In US . . .
A problem occasionally encountered in arbitration is getting a court to enforce a document subpoena issued by the arbitrator. That was the problem in Jones Day v. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP, Michael D. Torpey, Mitchell Zuklie, 21-16642 (9th Cir. 8/1/22) (Wardlaw, Ikuta, Bade).
The situation here was that Jones Day sought discovery from Orrick in an arbitration involving a partnership dispute and an attorney who was a German national, the arbitration was in Washington DC, and Orrick is headquartered in San Francisco. The problem that required a solution was finding subject matter jurisdiction in federal court and a means to enforce a subpoena in California.
The eventual solution, after some misfires, was to get the arbitrator to agree to sit for a hearing in California, have the arbitrator issue a by now "revised" subpoena, and file an action in the USDC, Northern District of California, to enforce the subpoena. While this solution eventually worked, it did not work in the USDC, Northern District, because the judge construed the Federal Arbitration Act to only allow the arbitrator to issue a subpoena where the arbitrator was sitting, i.e., DC. Jones Day then petitioned the Ninth Circuit -- successfully -- in order to enforce the arbitral summonses.
Judge Wardlaw explains, "[W]e must decide whether an action to enforce an arbitral summons issued by the arbitrator in an ongoing international arbitration under the [New York] Convention also “falls under the Convention.” We join our sister circuits in holding that (1) if the underlying arbitration agreement or award falls under the Convention, and (2) the action or proceeding relates to that agreement or award, then the federal district court has jurisdiction over the action or proceeding." Here, there was subject matter jurisdiction, because the international arbitration fell under the Convention, and the proceeding to issue summonses for the subpoenas related to the agreement.
One question remained: where could the subpoenas be enforced? An arbitral subpoena can be enforced by the district court sitting in the district where the arbitration is located pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 204, but the court in Washington DC lacked personal jurisdiction over Orrick in San Francisco. Solution: "[W]here, as here, that federal district court lacks personal jurisdiction over the party against whom enforcement is sought, we hold that the action may be brought in any district court deemed appropriate under the general venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391, because [9 U.S.C.] § 204 supplements, rather than supplants, other venue rules."
COMMENT: While Orrick may be displeased with the outcome of this discovery skirmish, the ruling will be welcomed by litigators who seek documents in international arbitration and are sometimes stymied by jurisdictional rules.
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