Companies with operations in the European Union (EU) have been finding that the scope of discovery in litigation in the United States is in conflict with their obligations under laws implementing the EU Data Privacy Directive. In fact, most U.S. courts have found that the country’s interest in ensuring the disclosure of all relevant information outweighs a foreign sovereign’s interests in protecting privacy. Those who wish to appeal existing Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) govern disclosure and discovery in civil proceedings in Federal courts will be held in contempt of court and could face monetary sanctions. It is important for U.S. lawyers to have a greater awareness of the interrelation of these fields of law by practitioners of each.
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