The U.S. District Court for the North District of Illinois has granted a motion to quash an arbitration subpoena directed to a non-party for her deposition. The court noted a Circuit split as to whether an arbitrator is authorized to subpoena pre-hearing discovery from non-parties. The court sided with the Second and Third Circuits, holding that the plain language of Section 7 of the FAA does not authorize arbitrators to issue subpoenas for depositions of non-parties outside the physical presence of the arbitrator. The court noted that opinions from the Fourth and the Eighth Circuits had permitted such discovery under certain circumstances. Accordingly, the subpoena was quashed. Ware v. Peacock, Inc., Case No. 10-2587 (N.D. Ill. May 7, 2010).
This post written by John Black.