Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-401_2cp3.pdf
Page Number: 7

Cite as:  596 U. S. ____ (2022) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

the  U. S.  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Michi-
gan, seeking information from ZF and two of its senior of-
ficers.  (Section 1782 allows a party to obtain discovery even
in advance of a proceeding.  See Intel Corp. v. Advanced Mi-
cro Devices, Inc., 542 U. S. 241, 259 (2004).)  The District 
Court granted the request, and Luxshare served subpoenas 
on ZF and the officers. 

ZF moved to quash the subpoenas, arguing (among other 
things)  that  the  DIS  panel  was  not  a  “foreign  or  interna-
tional  tribunal”  under  §1782.    As  ZF  acknowledged,  how-
ever, Circuit precedent foreclosed that argument.  See Ab-
dul Latif Jameel Transp. Co. v. FedEx Corp., 939 F. 3d 710 
(CA6 2019).  The District Court ordered ZF to produce doc-
uments and an officer to sit for a deposition, and the Sixth 
Circuit denied ZF’s request for a stay.

We granted a stay and certiorari before judgment to re-
solve a split among the Courts of Appeals over whether the 
phrase “foreign or international tribunal” in §1782 includes
private arbitral panels.  Compare Servotronics, Inc. v. Boe-
ing Co., 954 F. 3d 209 (CA4 2020); Abdul Latif, 939 F. 3d 
710, with National Broadcasting Co. v. Bear Stearns & Co., 
165  F. 3d  184  (CA2  1999);  Republic  of  Kazakhstan  v. 
Biedermann Int’l, 168 F. 3d 880 (CA5 1999); Servotronics, 
Inc. v. Rolls-Royce PLC, 975 F. 3d 689 (CA7 2020). 

B 
The second case began with a dispute between Lithuania
and  a  disappointed  Russian  investor  in  AB  bankas 
SNORAS (Snoras), a failed Lithuanian bank.  After finding
Snoras unable to meet its obligations, Lithuania’s central 
bank  nationalized  it  and  appointed  Simon  Freakley,  cur-
rently the CEO of a New York-based consulting firm called 
AlixPartners,  LLP,  as  a  temporary  administrator.    After 
Freakley issued a report on Snoras’ financial status, Lithu-
anian authorities commenced bankruptcy proceedings and