Legal Question in Business Law in California

Subpoena

I have a question about being subpoenaed for a trial. I was working at retail company and decided to leave at the end of 2004.The company was sued by a manafacturinhg for breaching a purchase order contract. I was subpoened by the sueing company and had to give a depostion. During the depostion I was told that the company I had worked for was not supplying me legal council.

It has been 6 months and they are going to trial and the manafacture that is suing has not called me into the trial. The company that I worked for wants me to help them win the case . They have asked if they can serve me a subpoena to apear in court to help them witn the case.

I have NO DERSIRE to help them win any case and they have in turn sued me for relocation.

Do I have to help them win the case and say ok to be served. The worded the letter to me like this:

Our firm represents ____. in the lawsuit brought against myold company by Bebop Clothing, a division of Second Generation, Inc. I am sure you remember being deposed by Bebop�s attorney several months ago. We are now preparing for trial, set to begin on September 27, 2004, and your testimony would be very valuable to help defend Wet Seal against the claims of bebop.


Asked on 9/16/04, 12:10 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys
Larry Rothman Larry Rothman & Associates

Re: Subpoena

Please contact my office at 714 363 0220 to set up an appointment. I would like to review your written documentation including any letters, notices, and lawsuits. We handle cases throughout California. We can review your documentation by fax and speak with you by phone.

We will have to review the subpeona.

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Answered on 9/17/04, 2:01 pm
Roy Hoffman Law Offices of Roy A. Hoffman

Re: Subpoena

It sounds as though the attorney(s) for your old company are asking if you will accept service of a subpoena voluntarily. If you don't want to accept the subpoena voluntarily, you don't have to; however, they will send a process server out to your home or place of business to try and serve you. Once served, you MUST appear for the trial. If you are served with a subpoena and refuse to appear, you could be held in contempt of court, fined, and possibly arrested. Your testimony may or may not be helpful to them, but I suspect that your old company will need more than your testimony alone to "win" their case.

Your statement: "I have NO DERSIRE to help them win any case and they have in turn sued me for relocation" makes no sense. One cannot be sued simply because they do not have a desire to help someone else win in litigation. Moreover, I have never heard of someone being sued "for relocation" and don't know what you mean by "relocation."

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Answered on 9/16/04, 12:53 pm
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: Subpoena

If your former employer is suing you for anything, you should retain a lawyer to conduct your defense. Ask that lawyer about the subpoena inquiry letter.

Parties considering subpoenaing witnesses will usually contact them beforehand to arrange for service and to sound out whether the witness will be friendly or hostile, the extent of their knowledge, and so forth. If you have been sued by the same party that plans to call you as a witness, however, they might just as well assume from the start that you'll be hostile.

In fact, it occurs to me that there could be something unethical or coercive in the interplay between the suit against you and the proposed testimony.

If you are subpoenaed, you must appear and testify, you must testify truthfully even if it's helpful to the company, and no one is obliged to provide you with an attorney, at least so long as the questioning relates to civil matters and your Fifth Amendment rights are not implicated.

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Answered on 9/16/04, 1:21 pm


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