Dr. Douglas Schottenstein, et al. v. Orthogen International GmbH

28 U.S.C. § 1782 authorizes federal courts to order discovery “for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal.” The Second Circuit affirmed orders authorizing what it repeatedly called “pre-suit discovery” — Rule 45 subpoenas for use in a “contemplated” private German civil action that Respondent, Orthogen Int’l GmbH, has not filed. The Question Presented is: Whether 28 U.S.C. § 1782 permits a district court to authorize a private foreign party to serve Rule 45 subpoenas for “pre-suit discovery” — to develop unpleaded foreign-law claims against a U.S. resident — in aid of a putative civil action it says it will file in the “conventional courts” of a foreign jurisdiction, where no administrative or quasi-judicial proceeding affords the applicant “significant procedural rights.”