Wednesday, August 7, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. EDT/10:00 a.m. PDT

CIArb-NAB is delighted to announce our upcoming webinar titled “Third-Party Discovery in Arbitration,” presented by John B. Pinney, FCIArb, Partner at Bricker Graydon, Cincinnati.

The webinar, “Third-Party Discovery in Arbitration,” will explore how parties in domestic and international arbitrations can obtain relevant evidence from U.S.-based third-parties for use in the arbitral proceedings, whether seated in the United States or elsewhere.

Both domestic arbitrations involving interstate commerce and international arbitrations are generally governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. §1 et seq.) (“FAA”).  Section 7 of the FAA governs the authority of arbitrators to compel testimony and production of documentary evidence by third-parties.  However, Section 7 has been definitively interpreted to limit such authority to summon witnesses only before the arbitrators (or any of them) at a session of the arbitration hearing on the merits of the claims.  Moreover, documentary evidence from the third-party may only be compelled in conjunction with a summons directed to a witness, where the summons directs the witness to “bring [the documents] with him.”  And finally, even though arbitral summons to a witness may be served anywhere in the U.S., they may only be enforced if the place of the hearing at which the witness is to appear is within 100 miles of the witness’ residence, place of employment or where the witness regularly transacts business. Arbitral tribunals have no power under Section 7 of the FAA to compel a third-party, not under control of the party in the arbitration, to appear at a pre-hearing deposition or produce documentary evidence for discovery purposes.

John Pinney will discuss various workarounds that can be employed to enable parties and arbitral tribunals obtain important evidence.  Don’t miss out on this webinar filled with insightful tips!

Register here – https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ppMjq5ROSL-KcvQO8DQKZg

Biography

John B. Pinney, FCIArb

John B. Pinney is a senior trial lawyer with the Bricker Graydon law firm in Cincinnati.  His practice focuses on international dispute resolution. John is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and serves as both a mediator and an arbitrator, as well as counsel for clients having cross-border disputes.  John currently is Vice-Chair of Training for the North America Branch of the Chartered Institute, and, as such, is responsible for presenting the Institute’s Accelerated Route to Fellowship Courses in North America.

John is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, teaching international commercial arbitration and coaching Cincinnati’s team at the Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot Team for both the Hong Kong and Vienna competitions.  He is a frequent speaker on enforcement of foreign judgments and on international commercial arbitration, including programs presented by the Center for International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria, the American Arbitration Association; American Bar Association; and Union Internationale des Avocats, among other organizations.