## Facts

- A dispute in a multidistrict litigation proceeded to arbitration between Managed Care Advisory Group, LLC (MCAG) and CIGNA Healthcare, Inc. (CIGNA).
- MCAG issued arbitral summonses to five out-of-state nonparties (the “Epiq recipients” and the “Millennium recipients”) seeking appearance and document production at an arbitration hearing.
- A prior enforcement order for an earlier, similar set of summonses was reversed by the Eleventh Circuit, which held that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 governs enforcement of arbitral subpoenas.
- On remand, MCAG issued a second set of summonses described by the court as basically identical to the first set and directed to the same nonparties.
- MCAG moved to enforce the revised summonses; CIGNA and the nonparties opposed and sought to quash.
- The matter was referred to a magistrate judge for decision.

## Issues

1. Whether arbitral summonses to out-of-state nonparties can be enforced when the place of compliance exceeds Rule 45(c)’s 100-mile geographic limits.
2. Whether out-of-circuit authority could support enforcement despite Rule 45(c) and controlling Eleventh Circuit precedent.
3. Whether the court needed to reach objections based on scope, materiality, and burden if the summonses were geographically improper.

## Decision

- The motion to enforce the revised arbitral summonses was denied.
- The motion to quash the summonses was granted.
- The motion to strike a party’s characterization of supplemental authority was denied as moot.
- The court declined to address scope, materiality, or burden because the summonses failed under Rule 45(c)’s geographic limits.

## Legal Principles

- Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 governs judicial enforcement of arbitral subpoenas/summonses directed to nonparties.
- Rule 45(c) generally prohibits compelling a nonparty to appear at a hearing more than 100 miles from where the person resides, is employed, or regularly transacts business in person.
- When controlling circuit precedent requires application of Rule 45 to arbitral subpoenas, out-of-circuit authority that conflicts with that precedent will not justify enforcement.
- A court may resolve subpoena enforcement motions on threshold Rule 45(c) geographic grounds without reaching disputes about relevance, scope, or burden.

## Conclusion

The court refused to enforce arbitral summonses directed to out-of-state nonparties because the specified place of compliance exceeded Rule 45(c)’s 100-mile limit, and it quashed the summonses without deciding disputes about the requests’ scope or burden.


In re Managed Care Litig., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117788 (S.D. Fla. July 6, 2020)