Can I Refuse to Comply With a Subpoena?

Refusing to comply with a subpoena can result in serious penalties, but there are legal grounds to contest it. Learn about inadequate service, undue burden, and other valid objections to a subpoena.

By Brad Nakase, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. Do you have to respond to a subpoena?

Do you have to respond to a subpoena?

One way to compel someone to show up in court or provide specific proof is via a subpoena. Serious consequences, such as fines or even jail time, might ensue from refusing to comply with a subpoena. A person may, nevertheless, choose to ignore a subpoena in certain circumstances.

To begin, you must know that a subpoena is an irrevocable and binding court order. A person may, however, contest or oppose a subpoena in certain circumstances. Some examples are:

Inadequate service: A subpoena has to be served correctly, which implies it has to be sent to the right person or organization via certified mail or personally delivered. A subpoena might be subject to a challenge if it is not served correctly.
Confidential information: If the subpoena asks for privileged information, like conversations between an attorney and a client or between a doctor and a patient, the person who receives it may be able to challenge it on the basis of privilege.
Undue burden: The recipient may be entitled to raise an objection based on the grounds of undue burden if compliance with the subpoena would cause them an undue hardship, such as overwhelming them with paperwork or causing them to travel a great distance.
Request that is unreasonable: The subpoena receiver may have grounds to object if the information sought is excessively general or irrelevant to the case.

Keep in mind that you cannot legitimately resist a subpoena just because you do not wish to cooperate with it. Get in touch with a lawyer to go over your choices if you’ve gotten a subpoena and think you have a good case to contest or challenge it.

You must submit a written response to the court in order to contest or oppose a subpoena. In order to successfully contest or object to a subpoena, you must provide specific grounds for doing so. Following this, the court will decide after reviewing the objection or challenge.

A subpoena is often a legally enforceable order that must be obeyed and should not be denied, though there are some cases in which it is possible to contest or oppose it. A person should consult an attorney to go over their choices if they feel they have a good case to contest a subpoena.

Have a quick question? We answered nearly 2000 FAQs.

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Can I Refuse to Comply With a Subpoena?

Do you have to respond to a subpoena?

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