A subpoena is used in a variety of contexts to require either a litigating or third party to produce specified documents or to make an appearance at a hearing. A subpoena may be produced by the court or an attorney, as an officer of the court, depending upon the state where it is issued.
For a party that is not directly involved in the litigation (third party), the receipt of a subpoena can trigger many questions and concerns. The third party individual or business might wonder if he is legally required to respond and how to do so, whether there are requisite guidelines for formulating a response, if an attorney should be retained, and how to protect himself from liability. Below is a summary of the initial steps a third party responder should take when receiving a subpoena and some of the concerns that may arise in special situations.
Make sure you respond in a timely manner. You must provide a response to the subpoena by the date specified therein. This entails either producing the required documents or filing an objection by the stated deadline. If you do not have documents that are appropriate in your possession, then you must issue a written response explaining the situation. You may also seek an extension in writing if you deem it necessary. If you do not respond timely, in one manner or another, you may subject yourself to fines, penalties or even a legal judgment.
Analyze the subpoena. You should carefully review the requested documents to assess the scope of the subpoena request. If the information request is too broad, you may be able to limit the range of requested documents. If the request explicitly requires the disclosure of confidential information, such as medical records, you may incur additional obligations to furnish a copy of the subpoena and the documents to the individual about whom the confidential information pertains.
Complying with the subpoena. If you choose to respond to the subpoena by presenting the documents to the opposing party, you must locate and identify the appropriate documents. While this is typically a manageable task for individual subpoena recipients, this can be a daunting and complex undertaking for a business with multiple employees. Employers or business owners must carefully ascertain which employees have access to the requested information and provide detailed guidance for how to search for and collect such information.
Reviewing the documents. Once the documents are located, they should be analyzed in detail to determine if they: (i) are relevant (and if they are not responsive, they need not be submitted); and (ii) contain privileged or confidential information, and if so, whether you are obligated to reveal them to the requesting party. It may be advisable to contact an attorney if the documents present specific legal concerns or the subpoena requests is particularly complex.
Contact Shane Coons at 949-333-0900 or visit his website at www.ShaneCoonsLaw.com to find out more about his practice.