Subpoena coming- What are my options?

I had 3 messages from a sheriff's deputy over the last 2 weeks (I was on vacation) who has been trying to serve me with a subpoena. When I spoke to him he stated that an ex-client of mine (developer) was being sued by a condo owner. We were the architects on the project, a conversion of an old factory to loft style condos. I am not being sued, just asked for information apparently, but as these things go that could change at any time.

My question: What is my obligation to facilitate a meeting so that I can receive these papers? I haven't started purposely avoiding him yet but I am considering it. I don't think we did anything wrong, but in my limited experience with the legal system everyone looses in a lawsuit. Will he eventually just nail the papers to my door and consider the job done? Would I gain anything by stretching the process out as long as possible?

You could ignore it, and wait to see if they file a motion to compel. You could also state your hourly fee is $3500/hr, and you need payment in advance.

What does your client contract say about litigation and legal fees?

If there's an indemnity then I'd go ahead and schedule a deposition and/or provide documents as requested, and bill the research and travel costs back to your client.

If not, well, now you have something to add to your standard agreement.

PolarDude said: You could ignore it, and wait to see if they file a motion to compel. You could also state your hourly fee is $3500/hr, and you need payment in advance.

You can't really ask the plantiff to pay for your time when you're served a subpoena, can you?

Depending on what state you live in after a few attempts at personal service the subpeona can be mailed to you and carries full legal force.

There is something else which is wrong...

I would assume you did your work through your own LLC or Corporation. And, that the "client" contracted with your company and not with you. Hence, the subpoena should be going to your company and not to you! The distinction is important in that you want your company to be sued and not you individually. One of the purposes of forming a corporation is to shield yourself from personal liability.

Who is your agent of service for your corporation? It looks like you may have made yourself the agent which is something which you should never do and you should immediately get fixed.

I would also assume you have a multi-million dollar "errors and omissions" policy to cover any possible lawsuit. You might want to inform your insurance company of the subpoena. (so that their lawyers could get involved.)

Hence, I would assume you personally have nothing to worry about.

Spend the money to get advice from a real lawyer.

Read it. If you don't want to answer it, file a motion to quash.

I don't think we did anything wrong, but in my limited experience with the legal system everyone looses in a lawsuit
You need to do some more reading. I've felt quite successful in my legal experiences.

Would I gain anything by stretching the process out as long as possible?
Time to read over the suit, ascertain what they are asking and what you may have to provide, besides, you can't serve what you can't find. Again you can set some time up in the future to receive these papers, but you don't have to do it today.

Just go about your daily life.

Having worked in site development, when crap hits the fan everyone gets subpoenaed. Even if it was a wall that fell down and all you did was design the sidewalk on the other side of the project, your company will get served papers. You are a business. It doesn't make any sense to keep trying to dodge this. You will want to make sure it gets taken care of professionally so it won't affect the image of your company.

Once you receive the subpoena you can figure out what went wrong, gather and review your records to determine if the problem was at all on your end. You will need the documentation to deflect the issue to whichever company is at fault anyways especially if you were the prime on the project.

As far as how to proceed from there, you should contact your liability insurance company. They should provide legal council since if you are found at fault they will be paying. They will want to provide you with the best advice (and often representation) possible.

BradMajors said: LH2004 said: Anyway, if he is ever sued for some type of malpractice, he likely would be personally liable for his own acts.The contract is with his Corporation and not with him, no one can sue him.Sadly, that's not the way it works, and wishing it was isn't going to help.

The fact that he's not a party to the contract (if that's the case) means that he can't be sued for breach of contract. That's it.

If he didn't do his job as an architect up to professional standards, then he, personally, will be jointly and severally liable to anyone harmed by his negligence, including not just the owner but, for example, someone walking down the street who was injured by the building's collapse. That person doesn't care who signed the contract; they may be able to sue the corporation too, but that doesn't stop them from suing the architect. He may be entitled to indemnification from his corporation, but that won't do much good.

The typical medical practice is a corporation with maybe a few thousand dollars' worth of equipment, maybe a little cash on hand, some accounts receivable but plenty of payables and debt. Do you think doctors are just being stupid when they pay tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to get millions in personal medical malpractice insurance -- that they could just let any plaintiff walk off with their exam tables and EKG machines, and that would be that?

marvholly said: If I am reading this correctly the work in question was done in 2003. It is now 2009 - about 6 years. Most companies only keep records for a limited amount of time; usually 3-5 years. Even the IRS only suggests 3 years unless they are claimin fraud-then no limit.

I doubt the OP even still has anything relevant.

Any business that only keeps records for 3-5 years is asking for trouble...

The IRS wants you to only keep 3 years so that when they claim fraud (and some type of fraud seems to always be there) you don't have a leg to stand on.

On a professional project level, I would always keep a file of records. Maybe not the McDonald's receipt that was charged back, but the contract, meeting notes, and final design approval with plans. In the "digital era," that is not exactly difficult.

BTW, I recently got a subpoena as I was the witness of an accident. A pedestrian got hit by a car, now I got a check for $13 along with the subpoena and the constable serving it told me that out of $13, $9 was 1 days wages and $4 for commuting, I was like WTF?? Based on the current time for deposition I have to miss about 3 hours of work, should I ask them to reimburse me for the lost time??

The judge in the case will not be pleased if it looks like you tried purposefully to avoid the notice. The subpoena servers have to be paid, and paid for attempts to serve. You don't want to p.o. the judge, and don't want to appear to have anything to hide. By all means get legal advice, free if possible, but the subpoena is just a process, nothing to gain by trying to subvert the process, especially if you do end up a party in the case.

pruks said: BTW, I recently got a subpoena as I was the witness of an accident. A pedestrian got hit by a car, now I got a check for $13 along with the subpoena and the constable serving it told me that out of $13, $9 was 1 days wages and $4 for commuting, I was like WTF?? Based on the current time for deposition I have to miss about 3 hours of work, should I ask them to reimburse me for the lost time??

The compensation paid to witnesses are generally set by statute. In my state it's $25 per day, plus 20¢ per mile, and $5 per night for "hotel and meal expenses". That alone will tell you the last time the rates were updated.

computerquest said: marvholly said: If I am reading this correctly the work in question was done in 2003. It is now 2009 - about 6 years. Most companies only keep records for a limited amount of time; usually 3-5 years. Even the IRS only suggests 3 years unless they are claimin fraud-then no limit.

I doubt the OP even still has anything relevant.

Any business that only keeps records for 3-5 years is asking for trouble...

The IRS wants you to only keep 3 years so that when they claim fraud (and some type of fraud seems to always be there) you don't have a leg to stand on.

On a professional project level, I would always keep a file of records. Maybe not the McDonald's receipt that was charged back, but the contract, meeting notes, and final design approval with plans. In the "digital era," that is not exactly difficult.

I once thought that there was a limit on when someone could bring a lawsuit for these types of design services, something like 7 years or so, but I now think that's not true. Or records are pretty complete from the day we opened.

codename47 said: Read it. If you don't want to answer it, file a motion to quash.

I don't think we did anything wrong, but in my limited experience with the legal system everyone looses in a lawsuit
You need to do some more reading. I've felt quite successful in my legal experiences.

Would I gain anything by stretching the process out as long as possible?
Time to read over the suit, ascertain what they are asking and what you may have to provide, besides, you can't serve what you can't find. Again you can set some time up in the future to receive these papers, but you don't have to do it today.I think you need to stop engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.

I think you need to stop engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.
I think you should go read the definition of unauthorized practice of law and stop accusing people of doing things they aren't doing.

I agree with crazytree.
As a plaintiff of a similar situation. We subpoenaed an architect for his advice and as a witness expert (most likely the plaintiff wants to prove that the developer followed your architectural plan). You can make some $$$ doing so after negotiating with the plaintiff's lawyer. But just a document and original plan would suffice.

Don't assume that your insurance company has your same interests and agenda. Their advice is aimed at limiting their time and expense, not yours. I recently watched them railroad a client into settlement because it was cheaper for them. Unfortunately, the admission of guilt ruined the client's career and opened them up to more suits. The insurance company doesn't care about that.

BradMajors said: There is something else which is wrong...

I would assume you did your work through your own LLC or Corporation. And, that the "client" contracted with your company and not with you. Hence, the subpoena should be going to your company and not to you! The distinction is important in that you want your company to be sued and not you individually. One of the purposes of forming a corporation is to shield yourself from personal liability.

Who is your agent of service for your corporation? It looks like you may have made yourself the agent which is something which you should never do and you should immediately get fixed.

I would also assume you have a multi-million dollar "errors and omissions" policy to cover any possible lawsuit. You might want to inform your insurance company of the subpoena. (so that their lawyers could get involved.)

Hence, I would assume you personally have nothing to worry about.

sorry, but what the heck are you talking about? Just because a party is subpoenaed to testify has nothing to do with who ends up being sued or who has liability. You don't subpoeana a business entity, e.g. inc., llp, llc, etc., to testify. You subpoena a human being to testify.

By contrast, if it is a subpoena duces tecum, then it should be directed to the business entity because the documents are legally in the possession of the entity. In that case, I suppose OP could claim that he does not personally have possession of the requested documents.