United States v. Panhandle Eastern Corp.

118 F.R.D. 346 (1988)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

United States v. Panhandle Eastern Corp.

United States District Court for the District of Delaware
118 F.R.D. 346 (1988)

Facts

The United States (plaintiff), on behalf of the Maritime Administration, filed a civil suit against Panhandle Eastern Corporation (PEC) (defendant) and its affiliates, including Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. (PEPL). The United States served a request for production of documents, which included a request for all documents related to an arbitration between PEPL and Sonatrach, Algeria’s state-owned oil and gas company. PEPL filed a motion for a protective order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), arguing that disclosure of the requested documents would harm its future relationships with both Sonatrach and the Algerian government. In support of its motion, PEPL filed the affidavit of Louis Begley, an attorney who had represented PEPL as its lead counsel in the Sonatrach arbitration. Begley’s affidavit asserted that (1) confidentiality was mandated by the internal rules of the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the organization that had selected the arbitrator; (2) the parties had agreed to keep the arbitration documents confidential; and (3) disclosure of the documents would offend the sensibilities of Sonatrach and the Algerian government, thus harming PEPL’s future business negotiations. The affidavit did not identify specific ways in which disclosure of the arbitration documents would cause harm to PEPL.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Latchum, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership