A subpoena is a legal document that commands a person or entity to testify as a witness at a specified time and place (at a deposition, trial, or other hearing), and/or to produce documents or other tangible objects in a legal proceeding. Subpoenas are time-sensitive with court-imposed deadlines.
It can be issued by any attorney, a self-represented individual, or a service hired by an attorney, using court-supplied forms. Subpoenas can be issued in criminal cases, in private (“civil”) lawsuits; they may also be issued by government agencies conducting their own investigations and proceedings, administrative or criminal (e.g., IRS, SEC, FBI, even issued by the President of the United States on behalf of the military).
An individual served with a subpoena duces tecum or deposition subpoena is normally given a reasonable time to respond. A valid subpoena will provide, in accordance with the statute, a response date and location. Any question about validity, contact OLA (510-642-7122).
a. For a subpoena duces tecum issued in a civil action, the records should be provided either within 15 days after the receipt of the subpoena, or within the time agreed upon by the party serving the subpoena and the custodian of records or witness. (Evid. Code § 1560(b)(2...
Failure to respond to a subpoena is punishable as contempt by either the court or agency issuing the subpoena. Punishment may include monetary sanctions (even imprisonment although extremely unlikely). Generally, a hearing will be held where the party charged with noncompliance has an opportunity to explain its side of the story, and the court or agency has broad discretion to determine an appropriate punishment given the circumstances presented. In most cases in a contempt proceeding, the court determines the appropriateness of withholding any documents under...
Service of a Summons and Complaint is a process to compel someone to appear in court to defend him/her/itself against a lawsuit. It involves presenting to the person or entity sued (the ‘defendant’) a Complaint in which the person suing (the ‘plaintiff’) describes its legal claims and should always be accompanied by a Summons, requiring a defendant to respond in court. There are very specific requirements for serving a lawsuit on a defendant. Plaintiffs frequently hire a professional process server to comply with these requirements.
Yes. There are special rules that apply when these kinds of records are subpoenaed which requires the party issuing the subpoena to notify the individual (or his/her/its attorney) whose records are sought before the records can be disclosed. The University is also required to give reasonable notice to an individual whose records are requested before complying with the subpoena's request(s). Certain campus departments are familiar with these special rules, e.g., the Registrar's Office, University Health Services/Tang Center, and have procedures in place to handle these types of subpoena...
In most cases, it is not required that original documents be turned over in response to a subpoena. Technically, a subpoena requires production of original documents, but often the requestor will be satisfied with copies, and this can clearly be negotiated with the requestor. If originals are required, a University employee usually goes with the originals to the place of production to ensure that documents are not lost or misplaced; or the requestor comes to the University office where the records reside and inspects/copies them on-site. A University employee should be present at all...
Service of process involves delivery of a special type of court order to an individual or company (“entity”). Service of process can involve either a “Summons and Complaint” initiating a lawsuit, or a “Subpoena” requesting that business records be turned over and/or that personal testimony be given, or a personal appearance be made. These are the types of service most likely encountered at UC Berkeley.
A subpoena to a particular named person rather than the University can only be accepted by that person. However, there are three important exceptions to this requirement:
If the subpoenaed person is a peace officer, subpoenaed to testify about an event or transaction h/she witnessed or investigated as a peace officer, the subpoena may be served by delivering two (2) copies to the immediate superior or an agent designated to receive subpoenas, who must then deliver a copy to the peace officer (Gov. Code § 68097.1(a))...
In most cases, the University is obligated to comply with a subpoena duces tecum or deposition subpoena served upon it. However, in certain circumstances a particular document may be subject to a privilege which does not permit the University to disclose without first obtaining permission of the holder of the privilege, or if that privilege has somehow been waived. The most common privileges to arise in a University setting are the physician-patient privilege, the psychotherapist-patient privilege, and the attorney-client privilege. Failure to assert a privilege not to disclose...
