28 U.S.C. 1782

When parties to a legal proceeding outside of the United State want to obtain discovery of evidence in the United States, they more often do so under federal statute 28 U.S.C. 1782. This statute is more often a means for international discovery than the Hague Convention. There is no need under 28 U.S.C. 1782 to have first requested the discovery from a foreign court. The statute merely requires that the individual requesting discovery be an interested party in a foreign proceeding and that the person from which they want the discovery is in the district of the court with which an application for discovery has been filed.

In Intel Corp v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 542 U.S. 241 (2004), the Supreme Court of the United States held international discovery could be sought prior to the initiation of a legal proceeding in the United States and that the information need not be discoverable in the foreign jurisdiction.