Lucas Bento, an associate in Quinn Emanuel’s New York office, published recently “The Globalization of Discovery: The Law and Practice under 28 U.S.C. § 1782". The US has the most extensive discovery procedure of any jurisdiction worldwide. Section 1782 allows any “interested party” to foreign proceedings to seek US-style discovery from a person or entity located in the United States. Mr. Bento’s book is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of the law and practice of Section 1782. The statute can be used to obtain evidence in the United States for use in pending foreign civil and criminal proceedings or arbitral proceedings, and can be used prior to the commencement of any such foreign action.
As the largest business litigation and arbitration firm in the world, Quinn Emanuel is uniquely positioned to assist litigants in proceedings outside the United States with either seeking or resisting applications for discovery in the United States under Section 1782. The firm has pursued, and opposed, Section 1782 discovery applications successfully in a wide variety of disputes on behalf of clients around the world (including the further case note mentioned later in this newsletter). Among its many recent successes, Quinn Emanuel obtained a significant victory in the Second Circuit in which the court held that Section 1782 can be used to obtain documents located outside of the United States. With over 800 lawyers, many of them dual-qualified, and 23 offices in 11 countries, our firm has as a significant part of its practice litigation involving disputes in multiple jurisdictions.