While the FAA grants arbitrators authority to compel non-parties to appear before them and produce documents at a hearing, it does not authorize them to compel pre-hearing production. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals joined the Second, Third and Fourth Circuits in so holding. The Eighth Circuit, however, disagrees, having ruled previously that "implicit in an arbitration panel's power to subpoena relevant documents for production at a hearing is the power to order the production of relevant documents for review by a party prior to the hearing." It is also worth noting, as the Ninth Circuit did, that "because arbitration is a creation of contract, arbitration agreements may provide arbitrators greater discovery powers with respect to the parties bound by such agreements." CVS Health Corp. v. Vividus, LLC, Case No. 16-16187 (9th Cir. Dec. 21, 2017).
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