Deposition Subpoena in California: Forms, Service, and Fees

A deposition subpoena in California is a command issued during pretrial discovery that requires a nonparty to give testimony, produce documents, or both. An attorney of record can sign and issue one without a judge’s involvement, but the subpoena only holds up if it uses the right form, is personally served on a California resident with the correct notice period, includes consumer notice when personal records are targeted, and tenders witness fees when the witness asks for them. Miss any of those, and the whole thing can be quashed.

The Three Forms and When to Use Each

Code of Civil Procedure 2020.010 sets out three deposition subpoenas for nonparty discovery, and picking the wrong one changes which timing rules apply.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2020.010

  • Personal appearance, when you need oral testimony from the witness at a specific time and place.
  • Business records only, when you want documents or electronically stored information from a custodian and no one needs to appear.
  • Personal appearance and production, when you need testimony plus specified documents or tangible items.

Party depositions run on a separate track under CCP 2025.210 through 2025.620, where the deposition notice alone compels attendance and no subpoena is needed.

Who Can Issue One

An attorney of record acts as an officer of the court and can sign a deposition subpoena directly. No court seal, no judge’s signature.2California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 1985 Self-represented litigants do not have this authority. If you are representing yourself, you go to the court clerk, who issues a signed and sealed subpoena in blank for you to fill in before service.

Who Can Be Subpoenaed

The subpoena can reach any person or entity with relevant testimony or documents: individuals, corporations, partnerships, government agencies, and custodians of records at hospitals, banks, schools, and similar institutions. Under CCP 2020.220, personal service is what makes the subpoena effective to compel attendance, testimony, and production from a California resident.3California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2020.220

When your subpoena targets an organization instead of a specific person, describe the topics you want covered. CCP 2025.230 then obligates the organization to designate the officers, directors, managing agents, or employees most knowledgeable about those matters.4California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2025.230 That keeps an organization from sending a witness who conveniently knows nothing.

Service and Lead Times

A deposition subpoena must be personally served. For an individual, that means hand delivery. For an organization, service on any officer, director, custodian of records, or authorized agent works. Mail and email do not count. CCP 1987 allows any person to make service, but most litigants hire professional process servers because the proof of service has to hold up if compliance becomes contested.

Minimum lead times depend on what the subpoena demands:

When a subpoena demands both testimony and documents, use the longer applicable notice period.

Witness Fees

California witnesses are entitled to a daily attendance fee of $35 and mileage of $0.20 per mile, both ways, under Government Code 68093.7California Legislative Information. California Government Code 68093 Those fees apply only when personal attendance is required.

Under CCP 1987, the server must offer one day’s attendance and travel at the time of service if the witness demands them. Skipping the tender doesn’t automatically void the subpoena in every situation, but it gives the witness grounds to resist enforcement. Attaching a check to the service papers avoids the argument entirely.

Consumer Notice for Personal Records

This is where most deposition subpoenas go wrong. When you subpoena personal records from a third party such as a bank, hospital, insurance company, school, or phone company, you must notify the person whose records you are seeking before the custodian hands anything over. CCP 1985.3 defines “personal records” broadly to cover documents held by medical providers, financial institutions, attorneys, accountants, pharmacies, psychotherapists, and educational institutions, among others.8California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 1985.3

The subpoenaing party serves the consumer with a copy of the subpoena, any supporting affidavit, and a statutory notice of the consumer’s right to object. The deadlines are strict:

  • At least 10 days before the date set for production of the records, with extra time added if service is by mail under CCP 1013.
  • At least 5 days before the subpoena is served on the custodian of records, again with added time for mail service.

Missing either deadline gives the consumer grounds to move to quash the entire subpoena. CCP 1985.4 extends the same notice obligations to subpoenas seeking personal information held by state and local government agencies.9California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 1985.4

Medical Records and HIPAA

Medical records add a federal layer. HIPAA bars a healthcare provider from releasing protected health information in response to a subpoena unless the requesting party gives “satisfactory assurances” that one of two things has happened: the patient received written notice and had time to object, or the parties have agreed to (or the requesting party has sought) a qualified protective order.10eCFR. 45 CFR 164.512 – Uses and Disclosures for Which an Authorization or Opportunity To Agree or Object Is Not Required A qualified protective order limits use of the records to the pending litigation and requires their return or destruction when the case ends.

California Evidence Code 1560 also governs how nonparty business custodians comply with subpoenas. In civil cases, the custodian has 15 days after receiving the subpoena to deliver certified copies to the deposition officer or court clerk.11California Legislative Information. California Evidence Code EVID 1560

Out-of-State Witnesses and Federal Cases

A California deposition subpoena reaches only witnesses who reside in California at the time of service. CCP 1989 makes residency a prerequisite for the compulsion to attend.12California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 1989 For document-only subpoenas, CCP 2020.410 requires a reasonable compliance location.

If a witness lives outside California, your California subpoena has no force in their state. Most states have adopted the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, which lets you take a subpoena issued by the California court to the clerk in the county where the witness lives; that clerk then issues a local subpoena enforceable under the witness’s home state’s rules.13American Bar Association. The UIDDA and How It Affects the Out-Of-State Subpoena Process for State Cases

Federal court is different again. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 limits compelled attendance to within 100 miles of where the witness resides, works, or regularly conducts business, and a court must quash any subpoena that exceeds that boundary.14Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena Federal subpoenas can be served anywhere in the United States, but the compliance location stays inside the 100-mile radius.

Objecting or Moving to Quash

Recipients are not stuck with the subpoena as issued. CCP 1987.1 lets any party, witness, or affected consumer ask the court to quash, modify, or impose protective conditions.15California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 1987.1 Common grounds include:

  • Overbreadth, where the subpoena sweeps in far more than is relevant.
  • Privacy violations involving sensitive material like medical, financial, or sexual history, absent a compelling showing that outweighs the privacy interest.
  • Privilege, including attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine.
  • Defective service, missing consumer notice under CCP 1985.3, or blown timing.

Affected consumers have an independent right to object. The statutory notice tells the consumer they can file a motion to quash or seek a protective order before the production date. CCP 1987.1 also clarifies that a consumer does not have to file a motion to preserve the objection; if the consumer objects, the burden of showing that the records should still be produced falls on the subpoenaing party.

What Happens If the Witness Ignores It

A properly served subpoena has real teeth. The first move is a motion to compel. CCP 2025.450 addresses a party or a party’s officer, director, or employee who fails to appear for deposition; the court can order attendance and impose monetary sanctions.16California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2025.450 For any deponent, party or nonparty, who refuses to answer or produce documents during a deposition, CCP 2025.480 authorizes a separate motion to compel, and the court must impose sanctions on the losing side unless that side’s position was substantially justified.17Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2025.480

Disobeying a court order that follows can be treated as contempt. Under CCP 1218, a contempt finding carries a fine of up to $1,000, jail time of up to five days, or both, and the court can order the contemnor to pay the other side’s reasonable attorney fees for bringing the contempt proceeding.18California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 1218 Most witnesses comply once a court order is on the table.