REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

JULIE S. SNEED, District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Ex Parte Application to Obtain Third-Party Discovery for Use in Foreign Action. (Dkt. 1.) Movant, Thomas Ehrner, the official receiver in the Stockholm District Court case of Lars Jonas Brundin v. Bruno Peter Andreis, Case No. K7535-14, applies for an ex parte order pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 authorizing him to obtain discovery from Florida entities regarding Bruno Peter Andreis' assets for use in a bankruptcy proceeding involving Mr. Andreis in Stockholm, Sweden.

APPLICABLE STANDARDS

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, a district court may grant an application for judicial assistance to a foreign country and order that an individual residing in the judicial district give testimony or produce documents for use in a foreign proceeding. 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a). To obtain judicial assistance under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, the applicant must show the following: (1) the request is made by a foreign or international tribunal or by an interested person; (2) the request seeks evidence of a person or the production of a document or other thing; (3) the evidence is sought for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal; and (4) the person from whom discovery is sought resides or can be found in the judicial district. In re Clerici, 481 F.3d 1324, 1332 (11th Cir. 2007).

Once the prima facie requirements are satisfied, the court must consider the following factors in exercising its discretion to provide judicial assistance: (1) whether the person from whom discovery is sought is a participant in the foreign proceedings; (2) the nature of the foreign tribunal, the character of the proceedings in the foreign tribunal, and the receptivity of the foreign tribunal to judicial assistance; (3) whether the request conceals an attempt to circumvent foreign proof-gathering restrictions or other policies; and (4) whether the request is otherwise unduly intrusive or burdensome. In re Clerici, 481 F.3d at 1334 (citing Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 542 U.S. 241, 264-65 (2004)).

ANALYSIS

In support of the application, Mr. Ehrner filed a declaration in which he states that he has been appointed as the official receiver in Mr. Andreis' bankruptcy case whose duty it is to locate and liquidate assets owned by Mr. Andreis for the benefit of creditors. (Dkt. 2.) Mr. Ehrner states that Mr. Andreis is listed as an officer of Safrema Energy LLC and Safrema Hydrodynamics LLC, both located in Sarasota, Florida, and that Mr. Andreis' driver's license lists his address at a residence located in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, and owned by Ms. Jutta Kleinschmidt. (Dkt. 2.) As such, Mr. Ehrner seeks to obtain discovery regarding Mr. Andreis' ownership interest in the companies and residence listed above and any other assets Mr. Andreis may own.

In discharging his duty as an official receiver, Mr. Ehrner seeks to issue subpoenas duces tecum to Safrema Energy LLC, Safrema Hydrodynamics LLC, and Ms. Jutta Kleinschmidt for testimony and the production of documents regarding the following: Mr. Andreis' ownership interest in Safrema Energy and Safrema Hydrodynamics, Mr. Andreis' ownership interest in the residence of Ms. Kleinschmidt, and any transfers of Mr. Andreis' ownership or assets in the last ten years relating to the companies and residence at issue. (Dkt. 1.) As such, Mr. Ehrner states that he seeks evidence in the form of testimony and documents, the evidence sought is to be used in the bankruptcy proceeding currently pending in the Stockholm District Court, and the companies and individual from whom the evidence is sought are located in Manatee County, Florida, which is within the Middle District of Florida. (Dkts. 1, 2.) In light of this, the Court finds that the prima facie requirements under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 are satisfied.

Additionally, the companies and individual from whom the discovery is sought are not participants in the foreign proceeding and, as a result, the evidence sought from them may not be obtainable absent judicial assistance from this Court. See Intel, 542 U.S. at 264 (stating that the need for judicial assistance is more apparent when evidence is sought from a non-participant in a matter arising abroad). The proceeding in question is a bankruptcy proceeding currently pending in the Stockholm District Court in Sweden, and there is no indication that Mr. Ehrner's request is an attempt to circumvent foreign proof-gathering restrictions or that the discovery sought is unduly intrusive or burdensome. Accordingly, it is

RECOMMENDED:

IT IS SO REPORTED.