Opinion ID: 2646624
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Subpoena on Dr. Hinchee

Text: The Republic sought discovery from Dr. Hinchee in the District Court for the Northern District of Florida where Dr. Hinchee resides. The Republic 4 Case: 12-16216 Date Filed: 12/18/2013 Page: 5 of 23 requested this discovery to aid “in defending the validity of the Lago Agrio judgment” in the Treaty arbitration. The Republic explained that “Dr. Hinchee is an environmental engineer and an expert in the assessment and remediation of petroleum contaminated sites.” Because Chevron relied on Dr. Hinchee’s expert reports in both the Lago Agrio litigation and in the Treaty arbitration, the Republic contended that Dr. Hinchee and his documents were relevant to the Treaty arbitration. The Republic requested that the district court issue a subpoena to Dr. Hinchee for a deposition and production of documents pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782, which allows the district court to issue orders to give “[a]ssistance to foreign and international tribunals and to litigants before such tribunals.” Chevron intervened in the district court action and opposed the subpoena. The district court granted the Republic’s request for a subpoena, and Dr. Hinchee and Chevron produced approximately 94,000 pages of documents. However, Dr. Hinchee and Chevron asserted work-product protection over 1,200 documents.