National Broadcasting Co v. Bear Stearns & Co.

National Broadcasting Company, Inc., and NBC Europe, Inc. (collectively, NBC) (defendant) were summoned by Mexican television station TV Azteca S.A. de C.V. (Azteca) (plaintiff) to commercial arbitration proceedings in Mexico. The Mexican proceedings were conducted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), a private French organization. As part of the arbitration process, NBC issued subpoenas to Bear Stearns and Co., Inc.; Merrill Lynch and Company; Salomon Brothers, Inc.; SBC Warburg, Inc.; and Violy Byorum and Partners (collectively, Azteca’s financial partners) (plaintiffs). Azteca’s financial partners were not parties to the arbitration. Azteca and Azteca’s financial partners filed a motion to quash the subpoenas in federal district court. NBC filed a cross-motion to enforce the subpoenas under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, which authorized United States courts to order the production of evidence for use in proceedings in a “foreign or international tribunal.” The district court granted the motion to quash and denied the motion to enforce. The district court reviewed the language, legislative history, and purpose of § 1782 and found that private commercial arbitration conducted by a nongovernment entity such as the ICC did not qualify as a foreign or international tribunal as required by § 1782. NBC appealed, arguing that although Azteca’s financial partners were not parties to the arbitration, enforcement of subpoenas against them was justified under § 1782 because the ICC arbitration panel qualified as a foreign or international tribunal under that provision. In support of its position, NBC provided evidence of various references to arbitration panels as tribunals or arbitration tribunals.