5th Circuit Refuses to Rehear Screening Document Production Dispute

NEW ORLEANS - The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied a motion to rehear arguments in a dispute over asbestos-related document production, but a dissenting judge has filed an opinion stating that the federal MDL court's authority does not cover subpoenas. In Re: Clients and Former Clients of Baron & Budd, P.C.; Occupational Medical Resources Inc., Nos. 06-20835, 06-20836 (5th Cir.).

In the March 27 opinion, Circuit Judge Priscilla R. Owen opined that while 28 U.S.C. § 1407 "confers broad powers upon a transferee court in multidistrict litigation to conduct pretrial proceedings, it does not confer the power …