Respond to a subpoena served on the client
Key facts
- Human involvement
- RedLawyer-led
- How AI is used
- List the issuing court, the action number, the command, the date for compliance, and the documents or testimony called for. Flag whether the time to serve a written objection has passed. Do not write the objection, the motion to quash, or any paper that is served or filed.
- What the lawyer must review
- Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(d)(2)(B), a person commanded to produce documents or tangible things, or to permit inspection, may serve on the party or attorney designated in the subpoena a written objection to inspecting, copying, testing, or sampling any or all of the materials, to inspecting the premises, or to producing electronically stored information in the form or forms requested. The objection must be served before the earlier of the time specified for compliance or 14 days after the subpoena is served. If an objection is made, the serving party may move the court for the district where compliance is required for an order compelling production, and that order must protect a person who is neither a party nor a party's officer from significant expense resulting from compliance. On timely motion, that court must quash or modify a subpoena that fails to allow a reasonable time to comply, requires compliance beyond the geographical limits in Rule 45(c), requires disclosure of privileged or other protected matter if no exception or waiver applies, or subjects a person to undue burden. Rule 45(e)(2) requires a person withholding subpoenaed information as privileged or as trial-preparation material to expressly make the claim and to describe the nature of what is withheld without revealing the protected information. The lawyer writes anything that is served or filed. A state-court subpoena is not governed by Rule 45.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Supporting preparation only. Potential support includes identifying points for review. Confirm the tool’s capability and permitted scope. The tool writes nothing into the document. Substantive advice, judgement and any restricted content remain with the responsible human. |
| Lawyer | Perform the substantive analysis and decisions. Independently check any permitted supporting work and approve the exact output for its intended use. |
Checklist
- Check the current court or regulator requirements, prescribed form and attachments for the intended document and filing.
- Confirm that the actual tool, feature and processing terms permit use of this information, including access, retention, training and disclosure conditions.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery meet-and-confer letter | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter that identifies a specific discovery failure, proposes a cure, and sets up the good-faith conferral a motion to compel or for a protective order must certify. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.