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.

You do not have any "obligation" to be available to be served with a subpoena. If they manage to serve you, you do have an obligation to appear in court.

A friend of mine in California was subpoena'ed for a lawsuit that he really didn't want to go and testify for. He avoided the process server (a hired private investigator) for 2-3 weeks (not answering the doorbell and being quick about getting into his car, after ensuring the coast is clear). Eventually, the subpoena expired, and he never did have to go in and testify. You should check your state's laws to see what constitutes a delivered subpoena, but it's likely that they have to hand it to you in person (to be specific, in many states, the subpoena is legally served when it touches your body). If they want to serve it by another method (certified mail, nailing it on your door, etc), they will probably have to get a judge to sign off on that -- this probably requires a motion on the part of the plaintiff (and more hassle and money expenditures for them and their lawyer, and the judge may not go for that).

Also, the plaintiff trying to serve you with a subpoena is paying the sheriff's deputy to serve it to you (serving subpoenas is not a free service that sheriffs generally provide). It is likely that the longer you drag the process out, the more the plaintiff has to pay (if he has to pay per service attempt -- this likely varies from county to county). So if you want to gently discourage lawsuits, not making yourself easily available to be served might be worthwhile.

Basically, if you don't want to appear in court, you have no obligation whatsoever to make it easy for the plaintiff to serve you. Take a long vacation. You deserve it.

pruks said: 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??

Don't bother. They are under no obligation to do so (given the "witness fee" you have already received).

Once you are served you are forced to appear in court (or face charges). To me that sounds like a loss of personal freedom, or, in other words, a loose incarceration. If you're ok with that then by all means call the sheriff and have fun getting paid $9 a day or whatever trivial chump-change they pay for you to waste your time in the courtroom. Isn't that the same amount they pay convicts per day? Hmmmm....

There is absolutely no reason the OP should expedite the serving process. In fact by drawing it out there is a chance he won't have to appear. Hell I'd pay a buddy to run interference for me if it would benefit my freedom.

Keeping long records for something selling like a washing machine might not be an issue but when you are a service based business designing something, there is always the issue of health and human safety.

A building may not collapse the year you build it but if it does have a design flaw that causes say the roof fall down after 10 years you will be sued none the less. I am considering keeping personal records of all work I do personally - it is a professional reference you can use down the line and it is important to ensure that you have un-adulterated files when defending yourself.

wijjit said:You do not have any "obligation" to be available to be served with a subpoena. If they manage to serve you, you do have an obligation to appear in court.

...

Basically, if you don't want to appear in court, you have no obligation whatsoever to make it easy for the plaintiff to serve you. Take a long vacation. You deserve it.

I'm going back and forth, but I think I'm leaning towards this idea for a couple of reasons. One, I'm busy and have better things to do with my time (billable hours) and two, I'm not sure I want to help facilitate something that can only lead to aggrivation and potential expense for me.

this is probably a SDT (subpoena duces tecum) which is requesting documents only. it is probably coming from a copy service and they'll include a small check and set up a date for a guy to come in and copy the relevant documents.

the advice that you should consider a motion to quash is retarded. you're a third party witness, and the subpoena power of the civil courts is fairly substantial so you're not going to make this thing go away by ignoring it. why be bothered and have this thing hanging over your head when you can just deal with it? I don't know what state you're in, but in CA they're required to serve a "NOTICE TO CONSUMER OR EMPLOYEE" California Judicial Council Form SUBP-025 where the party whose records are being sought can object pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1987.1 at least five days before the date of production, and then the requesting party will have to obtain a court order.

and if they were to do that... you'd be off the hook until the motion was heard and the order issued by the court... which could take a month or two at minimum.

IANYL... consult a competent legal professional licensed to practice in your state.

edit:

after thinking about this a bit in the car, I am not sure if these types of records require a Notice to Consumer. in fact, based on my cursory recollection of CCP 1985.3, I don't think it does, although the code section leaves out certain types of records that I know require such a Notice... IE most employment records.

BradMajors said:LH2004 said:BradMajors said: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.
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. OP can not know why he is being subpoenaed until he reads the subpoena. A process server would say anything in order to get him to accept the papers.

Most business loans are signed and guaranteed personally. If he has one, he's in for one, regardless of whether it's pc, llc, pllc, etc.

If it is a deposition, you can always use the Clinton defense: "It depends on what the meaning of "is" is" or "I don't recall." Seriously, if you want to get the details of what the complaint alleges, sign up for a Pacer account to access court documents. It is pretty inexpensive unless you download a lot of documents.Pacer

Plead the Fifth.