US Discovery in International Arbitration and the Supreme Court’s Views on Statutory Interpretation

Expired

Program Number

31269

Program Date

2021-11-15

CLE Credits

This fall, the Supreme Court was supposed to hear argument in Servotronics, Inc. v. Rolls Royce PLC. That case recently settled, but the issues involved are compelling ones that will likely come before the Court again.

On its face, Servotronics presented a relatively narrow question: Does 28 U.S.C. 1782(a), which permits the district court to compel discovery for use in a “foreign or international tribunal,” apply to private international arbitrations? Given the increasing prevalence of international arbitration, this question is important. But it also has broader implications for how the Court decides questions of statutory interpretation.

What is the “ordinary meaning” of a statutory term when dictionary definitions arguably support both interpretations? And what role, if any, does legislative history play? This presentation will explore how a deceptively simple matter of statutory interpretation – defining the term “tribunal” in section 1782(a) – may shed new light on how the current Court approaches traditional interpretive tools.