Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
Can Attorney Subpoena 3rd party docs in disso?
A friend told me opposing counsel sent Subpoena DT to vendors of his Mom's business in disso case for cs reasons. SDT requests records of ''John Doe dba This Business''. No such thing. Business is his Mom's dba. Vendors didn't answer because of that. Attorney went to vendors, waiving SDT, claimed it was court order and threatened jail for ''obstruction of justice'' and 2 of 3 vendors gave Mom's business records. My friend can't afford $2500 retainer and I'm a paralegal, not qualified to address this. Any ideas?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Can Attorney Subpoena 3rd party docs in disso?
Ignoring a subpoena is always a bad idea. The subpoena is not tecnically a court order, but it is enforceable by court order and anyone who ignores a suboena risks sanctions from the court.
If the business isn't "John Doe's" dba, then it should provide a sworn response saying so. If it has the records sought by the subpoena, it should either turn them over or assert a proper objection (and be prepared to back up that objection when challenged).
If the records sought are the personal records of a non-party, then the supoenaing attorney must provide that person with notice of the subpoena and an opportunity to object. If he is a party, then he gets a copy of the subpoena anyway and has an opportunity to object. If he doesn't object after proper notice, then his privacy concerns are essentially waived and cannot justify refusing to produce the subpoenaed records.
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