The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has addressed what it deemed an issue of first impression for any circuit court: Whether documents obtained under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 can be used in a subsequent domestic litigation. The case pitted the former wife of Gaston Glock, founder of the Glock handgun company, against the Glock corporation. The former wife desired to use documents obtained through § 1782 for her Austrian divorce in a RICO action against Glock, Inc. Glock argued that § 1782 did not envision documents being used for such a purpose. The Eleventh Circuit agreed, but in so doing applied the rationale that allowing parties to use, “for purposes of litigation, documents they have lawfully obtained, regardless of whether they could have obtained them through discovery in the case in which they use them,” furthers the goals of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Distinguishing between the former wife using the documents as part of the proceeding and whether the documents would be ultimately admissible, the court reasoned that a blanket rule precluding such use could create a procedural nightmare for lower courts. Such determinations should be committed to the discretion of the district courts to determine if the documents were solely obtained to abuse § 1782. Glock v. Glock, Inc., No. 14-15701 (11th Cir. Aug. 17, 2015).
This post written by Zach Ludens.
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