Judge Kimba Wood
Protracted discovery followed the court's Aug. 5, 2011, judgment in favor of Thai Lao Lignite and Hongsa Lignite enforcing a $56 million arbitral award against respondent Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. District court denied petitioners' requests seeking: monetary sanctions requiring the Lao Government to pay $112,059 in attorney fees and costs; a contempt finding against the Lao Government and imposition of a daily fine until discovery's compliance; and a determination that facts relating to the Lao Government's ability to control and access funds held by the Lao Bank have been previously established. Noting that the Thai Lao Bank has sovereign immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), and that the discovery documents at issue are held by the Lao Bank and not respondent Lao Government, the court found that the respondent made a good faith effort to obtain the requested documents which were beyond its control and immune from attachment under the FSIA. A contempt finding was unwarranted because the Lao Government was "reasonably diligent in attempting to comply" with the subject discovery orders.
