In re Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1782 of Okean B.V. & Logistic Solution International to Take Discovery of Chadbourne & Parke LLP

60 F. Supp. 3d 419, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145548, 2014 WL 5090028
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 10, 2014
DocketNo. 12 Misc. 104(PAE)
StatusPublished

This text of 60 F. Supp. 3d 419 (In re Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1782 of Okean B.V. & Logistic Solution International to Take Discovery of Chadbourne & Parke LLP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1782 of Okean B.V. & Logistic Solution International to Take Discovery of Chadbourne & Parke LLP, 60 F. Supp. 3d 419, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145548, 2014 WL 5090028 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

PAUL A. ENGELMAYER, District Judge:

This case involves, and this decision resolves, an' application pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 to take discovery for use in a foreign proceeding, specifically, a civil lawsuit filed in the District Court of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The application, made in 2012, has been the subject of several prior decisions, in which the Court has addressed, inter alia, claims that production of .the requested documents is barred by the attorney-client privilege and by various foreign laws.

Most recently, the Court directed respondent Chadbourne & Parke LLP (“Chadbourne”), a law firm that is not a party to the foreign proceeding, to produce [421]*421to petitioners Okean B.V. and Logistic Solution International Limited (collectively, “Okean”), for review on an attorneys’-eyes-only basis, a sample of more than 600 documents responsive to Okean’s § 1782 subpoena. See Dkt. 62-63. These documents were in Chadbourne’s custody because they involved work that the firm’s Russian or Ukrainian counsel had done. At the Court’s direction, Chadbourne, at its own expense, had translated these documents into English from the native Russian or Ukrainian, in documents; and (2) to submit for in camera review those documents from among the 600 that Okean regarded as probative.

The Court has now closely reviewed the parties’ submissions and the sample documents. Based on that review, the Court holds that production of documents pursuant to the subpoena would be unduly burdensome and intrusive to Chadbourne; and that the probative value of these documents does not justify imposition of these burdens and intrusions. Chadbourne’s motion to quash Okean’s subpoena is, therefore, granted.

I. Background

On April 4, 2012, Okean moved in this District for an order authorizing it to take discovery from Chadbourne, pursuant to § 1782, for use in a lawsuit- pending before the District Court of Amsterdam, in the case of Okean B.V. and Logistic Solution International Limited v. Olympus Investments (2001) B.V., Poizanter Holdings Ltd., Fradomna Investments Ltd., Blakur Company Inc., Judith Hamburger, and Private Joint-Stock Company Smart Holding. See Dkt. 1. In that lawsuit, Oke-an seeks to void, as fraudulent under the Dutch Civil Code, certain transactions entered into prior to the bankruptcy of Wad-an Yards Group (“WYGAS”).

Chadbourne is not a party to the Dutch litigation. The documents it held were, however, claimed to be relevant because Chadbourne had been retained by several companies, including Okean and several of the defendants in that lawsuit, to provide legal advice and services in connection with either the transactions in question or events leading to them. In addition to Okean, the group of companies thus represented by Chadbourne included: Mykolayiv Shipyard Okean (“Wadan Yards”); Blakur Company Inc. (“Blakur,” a British Virgin Islands company); Poizanter Holdings Ltd. (“Poizan-ter,” a Cyprus company); Fradomna Investments Ltd. (“Fradomna,” a Cyprus company); and Olympus Investments (2001) B.V. (“Olympus,” a Dutch company). See Dkt. 12 (Declaration of Anna V. Putintseva in Support of Respondent’s Motion to Quash Subpoena) ¶ 2.

In connection with its § 1782 application, Okean submitted a proposed subpoena seeking production of all documents in Chadbourne’s possession, custody, or control, or that of its agents, created from November 1, 2009 to the present, that are responsive to any of 21 separately numbered document requests. Dkt. 11 Ex. 2 at 3, 6. Specifically, the subpoena seeks, inter alia, all (1) “documents concerning any acts” taken by Chadbourne at the direction of Chadbourne’s clients Blakur, Poizanter, and Fradomna during the relevant time period, id. at 6, 7; (2) “documents concerning the negotiation and drafting of, and performance under” nine separate agreements or transactions entered into by one or more of Chadbourne’s clients, id. at 7, 8; (3) “documents concerning” certain pleadings filed by Chad-bourne’s clients in the Wadan Yards bankruptcy proceedings pending in Ukraine, id. at 8; and (4) “documents concerning the signing of the Deeds of Assignment and Amendment to Term Loan Facility No. 1, [422]*422No. 4 and No. 5, by and among Okean B.Y., Blakur and Wadan Yards,” id. at 10.

On April 6, 2012, the Honorable Barbara S. Jones, sitting in Part I, granted Okean leave to issue the subpoena. See Dkt. 6. That order also granted Okean leave to issue additional subpoenas for the production of documents as Okean reasonably deemed appropriate and that were consistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See id.

On May 8, 2012, Chadbourne moved to quash Okean’s subpoena, on the grounds that: (1) Okean sought documents that were located outside of the United States; (2) the documents sought could be obtained from one or more of the parties to the Dutch litigation; and (3) Okean’s demands for documents were unduly intrusive and burdensome. See Dkt. 9.

On June 6, 2012, Okean issued a second subpoena, to which Chadbourne also objected, see Dkt. 16. Okean’s second subpoena seeks production of all documents in Chadbourne’s possession, custody, or control, or that of its agents, dating back to March 1, 2008, that are responsive to 16 additional requests. See Dkt. 16 Ex. 1 at 7. Specifically, the subpoena seeks, inter alia, all (1) “retainer or engagement letters or agreements” between Chadbourne and “Blakur, FLC West, Fradomna, Gold-Coast, Good Wing, Olympus, Poizanter, Salix, Smarb-Holding, Templestowe, Wad-an Holding, Wadan Yards, WYGAS, Yards Invest[,] Adamou, Blik, Hamberger, Jensen, Shamray, Shaposhnikov, Van Os, I. Yusufov and V. Yusufov,” id.; (2) “[documents concerning the negotiation and drafting of, and performance under” various agreements, id.; (3) “[documents concerning the Extraordinary General Meeting of WYGAS” held on March 25, 2009 and December 4, 2009, id. at 7, 8; (4) documents concerning the appointment of Shaposhnikov to various boards, id. at 8; (5) documents concerning various aspects of the WYGAS bankruptcy proceedings, id.; and (6) “[documents concerning the content of the email exchanges, dated March 17, 2010-April 8, 2010, that included, among others, Konstantin Konstanti-nov and Anna Kelina of [Chadbourne’s] Moscow office,” id. at 9.

On July 6, 2012, Okean moved to compel Chadbourne to produce documents responsive to its subpoenas. Dkt. 24. On July 20, 2012, Chadbourne submitted a memorandum of law in opposition. Dkt. 29.

On July 31, 2012, this Court, sitting in Part I, heard argument. Following that argument, in a ruling from the bench, the Court held that Okean had satisfied three of the four so-called “discretionary Intel factors.”1 See Dkt. 35 (Transcript of July 31, 2012 conference (“7/31/12 Tr.”)) at 30-32. However, the Court declined to resolve, without a developed record, whether the fourth, and highly significant, Intel factor was met — ie., whether the discovery sought was unduly intrusive or burdensome. Id. at 32.

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Bluebook (online)
60 F. Supp. 3d 419, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145548, 2014 WL 5090028, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-pursuant-to-28-usc-section-1782-of-okean-bv-logistic-solution-nysd-2014.