A subpoena is a written court order that requires you to testify, hand over documents, or both in a legal case, and it carries real penalties if you ignore it. Courts, attorneys, and some administrative agencies can issue them in civil and criminal matters alike, and you don’t have to be a party to the lawsuit to receive one. You do have ways to push back if the request is unreasonable or reaches into protected material, but doing nothing is not one of them.
One quick distinction before going further: a subpoena is not a summons. A summons tells you that you’ve been sued and must respond. A subpoena pulls you into someone else’s case because you have information or evidence that matters to it.
The Two Main Types
Most subpoenas fall into one of two categories, and a single document can combine both.
A subpoena to testify, formally a subpoena ad testificandum, orders you to appear and give sworn testimony at a trial, hearing, or deposition. A deposition happens outside the courtroom during pretrial discovery, usually in a lawyer’s office, and your answers are recorded under oath exactly as they would be in court.
A subpoena to produce documents, or subpoena duces tecum, orders you to turn over specific records or physical evidence. These commonly target financial records, emails, personnel files, medical records, and business documents.
What Makes a Subpoena Valid
Not every piece of paper labeled “subpoena” is enforceable. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a valid subpoena must identify the issuing court, state the case title and number, specify exactly what you’re being asked to do and when, and include the text of your rights as a recipient.
Proper Service
A subpoena only becomes enforceable once it’s properly delivered. The usual method is personal service — someone physically hands it to you. Under the federal rules, the person serving it must be at least 18 and cannot be a party to the case.1Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School). Rule 45. Subpoena Some jurisdictions also allow service by certified mail or, if the parties agree, by email.
Geographic Limits
You can’t be dragged across the country on a subpoena. In federal cases, a subpoena can only require you to travel within 100 miles of where you live, work, or regularly do business in person. A narrow exception lets parties and their officers be compelled to appear anywhere within the state where they live or work. If a subpoena pushes beyond these limits, that’s grounds to have it thrown out.1Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School). Rule 45. Subpoena
Witness Fees and Mileage
If a subpoena requires you to show up in person, the party who issued it must tender a witness attendance fee and mileage reimbursement at the time of service. In federal court, the attendance fee is $40 per day.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1821 Per Diem and Mileage Generally Mileage is paid at the federal rate, which is $0.725 per mile as of January 2026.3U.S. General Services Administration. Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rates These fees don’t need to be tendered when the subpoena is issued on behalf of the United States government.1Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School). Rule 45. Subpoena The $40 won’t replace lost wages, but tender is a legal requirement, and a subpoena served without it may be challengeable.
How to Challenge a Subpoena
Receiving a subpoena doesn’t leave you powerless. The deadlines are tight, though, so acting quickly matters.
Written Objections
If you’ve been ordered to produce documents and you believe the request is improper, you can serve a written objection on the attorney who issued it. The objection must be delivered before the earlier of two deadlines: the compliance date on the subpoena, or 14 days after you were served.1Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School). Rule 45. Subpoena Once you file a valid objection, the requesting party can’t simply force production. They have to go to court and get an order compelling you to comply.
Motion to Quash
A motion to quash asks the court to cancel or narrow the subpoena. Under the federal rules, a court is required to quash a subpoena that:
- Doesn’t allow a reasonable time to comply.
- Requires travel beyond the 100-mile boundary or applicable state limits.
- Demands material protected by attorney-client privilege, the work-product doctrine, or another recognized privilege.
- Imposes an undue burden, meaning the cost or effort of compliance is disproportionate to the value of the information.
Courts also have discretion to quash subpoenas that demand trade secrets, confidential business information, or opinions from experts who weren’t hired by any party.1Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School). Rule 45. Subpoena The party who issued the subpoena has an affirmative duty to avoid imposing undue burden or expense. If they fail that duty, the court can sanction them and award you attorney’s fees and lost earnings.
Privileges You Can Assert
Even a valid subpoena can’t override certain legal privileges, but you have to raise them before the compliance deadline rather than hand everything over and claim them later.
Attorney-client privilege shields confidential communications between you and your lawyer about legal advice. It covers the communications themselves, not the underlying facts. If you discussed a business transaction with your attorney, the other side can still subpoena records of the transaction, but they typically can’t force disclosure of what you said to your lawyer about it. Staying silent and raising the privilege later usually means you’ve waived it.
Fifth Amendment protection applies if answering could expose you to criminal prosecution, and it works in civil cases, not just criminal ones. You invoke it question by question during testimony. Simply receiving a civil subpoena does not excuse you from appearing; you still have to show up and assert the privilege when specific questions arise.
HIPAA adds a layer for medical records. A healthcare provider can only release your protected health information in response to a subpoena if reasonable steps were taken to notify you so you can object, or to obtain a protective order limiting how the information will be used.4HHS.gov. Court Orders and Subpoenas A bare subpoena without those safeguards doesn’t automatically entitle anyone to your medical records.
What to Do When You Receive One
Read the entire document carefully. Note the exact date and time you need to appear or the deadline for producing documents, what specifically is being requested, and which attorney or party issued it. The most common mistake is skimming and missing a critical detail buried in the boilerplate.
Preserve everything that could be relevant, immediately. If the subpoena asks for documents, stop any routine deletion of emails, texts, or files that might fall within the request. Destroying potentially relevant evidence after receiving a subpoena is called spoliation, and courts punish it harshly. That includes emptying a trash folder or letting an auto-delete policy run its course.
Consult an attorney, especially if the subpoena is broad, asks for potentially privileged material, or you’re uncertain about your obligations. A lawyer can evaluate whether the subpoena is valid, identify grounds for objecting or narrowing its scope, and help organize your response. If you’ve been subpoenaed as a non-party witness, you may have stronger grounds to push back on requests that are burdensome or irrelevant.
Your Job Is Protected
If you need to miss work to comply, most states have laws preventing your employer from firing or disciplining you for it. Federal employees called as witnesses are entitled to official duty status, meaning they receive their normal pay and benefits, including travel reimbursement, while complying.5eCFR. 5 CFR 1201.33 – Federal Witnesses Private-sector protections vary by state, but the broad trend is clear: employers cannot retaliate against you for obeying a court order.
What Happens If You Ignore It
Ignoring a subpoena is treated as contempt of court. Federal courts have explicit authority to punish disobedience of any lawful court order by fine or imprisonment.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 401 Power of Court When willful disobedience also amounts to a criminal offense, penalties can reach up to $1,000 in fines and six months in jail.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 402 Contempts Constituting Crimes
For witnesses who refuse to testify or produce information after being ordered to do so, a separate federal statute allows courts to confine the person until they comply. That confinement can last up to 18 months.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1826 Recalcitrant Witnesses Courts can also issue a bench warrant for your arrest if you fail to appear, which means law enforcement may show up at your home or workplace to bring you before the judge.
Non-compliance can hurt the case itself, too. Courts sometimes draw an adverse inference, essentially assuming that whatever you refused to produce or testify about would have been unfavorable to the non-compliant party’s position.
If you have a legitimate reason to object, use the formal procedures. File a written objection or a motion to quash before the deadline. Simply not showing up and hoping nothing happens is the one response the system is designed to punish.