In the first-ever essay from a member of USCIB’s Young
Arbitrators Forum,
Dana MacGrath (O’Melveny & Myers) asks in the
latest edition of USCIB’s
Arbitration & Dispute Resolution Update
whether arbitrators can issue subpoenas to non-parties in a dispute.
Ms. MacGrath notes that the Third
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in March that the Federal
Arbitration Act does not confer authority on arbitrators to subpoena a
non-party to produce documents in advance of an arbitration hearing.
“The fact that federal courts in
different parts of the United States interpret differently the power of
arbitrators to issue document subpoenas to third parties under the FAA
highlights the importance of the arbitration situs,” she
writes. “The extent to which parties to
an arbitration can seek discovery from non-parties will be governed by judicial
interpretation of the FAA at the place of arbitration.”
Launched earlier this year, the
Young Arbitrators Forum is open to practitioners under age 40. More information is available at:
www.uscib.org/index.asp?DocumentID=2844.
ICC Court’s Cape Cod Conference – The U.S. has been the biggest
per-party user of ICC dispute resolution services for the past five years. To help American practitioners understand
the current trends in international commercial dispute resolution, ICC and
USCIB will hold a major conference on arbitration, September 19-21 at the
Chatham Bars Inn in Cape Cod, Mass. The
event will focus on the workings of the ICC Court, and leading experts will
offer advice and insight from their wealth of experience. Discussion topics will be of interest to
practicing lawyers, corporate counsel, arbitrators, mediators, academics, ADR
experts and users, and business persons who wish to learn more about the
international dispute resolution mechanisms offered by ICC. For more information, please visit the
Events Calendar at
www.uscib.org.
