Subpoenaing records: fourteen days to object, and the issuer owes a duty not to burden
Applies across jurisdictions · Last verified August 17, 2026
Most subpoenas are not about testimony. They are about documents, and the procedure for documents is different from the procedure for witnesses in ways that both sides routinely get wrong.
The recipient does not have to turn up. The issuer owes an enforceable duty not to impose undue burden. And the objection window is short, measured from a date that is easy to miscalculate.
Nobody has to appear
FRCP 45(d)(2)(A) disposes of the most common misunderstanding:
Appearance Not Required. A person commanded to produce documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things, or to permit the inspection of premises, need not appear in person at the place of production or inspection unless also commanded to appear for a deposition, hearing, or trial.
So a records custodian who receives a subpoena listing a date and a courthouse does not have to travel there. Production satisfies it.
Illinois builds the same idea into its deposition rules from the other direction — Ill. S. Ct. R. 204(a)(4) lets a notice specify that "the appearance of the deponent is excused, and that no deposition will be taken, if copies of specified documents or tangible things are served" by a date certain.
The issuer's duty
FRCP 45(d)(1) is the provision non-parties should know exists:
Avoiding Undue Burden or Expense; Sanctions. A party or attorney responsible for issuing and serving a subpoena must take reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue burden or expense on a person subject to the subpoena. The court for the district where compliance is required must enforce this duty and impose an appropriate sanction—which may include lost earnings and reasonable attorney's fees—on a party or attorney who fails to comply.
Three things follow. The duty is on the party or attorney who issued it. The court must enforce it — not may. And the sanction expressly includes lost earnings and attorney's fees.
That is a real remedy for a small business handed an unreasonable production demand, and it is underused.
Fourteen days, or the compliance date
FRCP 45(d)(2)(B) sets the objection deadline, and the trigger is a comparison:
Objections. 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 or 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.
The earlier of the compliance date or 14 days after service. A subpoena served with a ten-day compliance date gives ten days, not fourteen.
The objection is served on the party or attorney designated in the subpoena, not filed with the court. That is a lower-effort step than a motion, and for most non-parties it is the right first move.
Costs, and who pays
Two provisions matter here.
Federally, the undue-burden duty in Rule 45(d)(1) carries the fees remedy quoted above.
In Illinois, the allocation is explicit for records produced in lieu of appearance — under R. 204(a)(4), "reasonable charges by the deponent for production in accordance with this procedure shall be paid by the party requesting the same", with other parties paying reasonable copying and delivery charges for what they receive.
And in Illinois the duty to respond is conditioned on payment. R. 204(a)(2): "A deponent shall respond to any lawful subpoena of which the deponent has actual knowledge, if payment of the fee and mileage has been tendered."
If you are issuing, budget for this. If you are receiving, ask.
Getting protection rather than refusing
The most useful framing for a non-party is usually not "quash this" but "narrow it, or make them pay for it." The rules are built for that:
- Illinois R. 201(c)(1) allows an order "denying, limiting, conditioning, or regulating discovery to prevent unreasonable annoyance, expense, embarrassment, disadvantage, or oppression", on motion of any party or witness.
- New York CPLR 3103(a) gives the same range to "any person from whom or about whom discovery is sought", and CPLR 3103(b) suspends disclosure of the disputed matter simply on service of the motion.
- New York CPLR 2304 allows a motion to quash, fix conditions or modify, with "Reasonable conditions … imposed upon the granting or denial."
State-specific detail is in quashing a New York subpoena and quashing an Illinois subpoena.
Getting the mechanics right when you issue
| Step | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Identify the right issuing authority | Illinois allows the clerk or counsel of record to issue; other systems differ |
| Serve it properly | Illinois mail service needs certified or registered, restricted delivery, 7 days out, with the fee enclosed |
| Tender fees and mileage | In Illinois the duty to respond depends on it |
| File it if required | Illinois requires the subpoena attached to the notice and filed not less than 14 days before a records deposition |
| Describe the records precisely | Vague categories invite objections you will lose time on |
| Give a realistic compliance date | It also sets the recipient's objection window |
| Copy the other parties | Georgia requires a copy of a non-party request served on all parties of record |
| Plan to share | Georgia requires reasonable efforts to make non-party production available to other parties on request |
That last pair comes from O.C.G.A. § 9-11-34(c), covered in Georgia requests for production — Georgia reaches non-party documents through its production statute rather than by subpoena, which is unusual and worth knowing if you practise there.
Which court hears a dispute
For non-party discovery, the answer is generally not the court where the case is pending. FRCP 37(a)(2) puts it plainly: "A motion for an order to a nonparty must be made in the court where the discovery is or will be taken."
Rule 45 uses the same idea — the court "for the district where compliance is required" enforces the undue-burden duty.
A short checklist
If you receive one:
- Work out the objection deadline — the earlier of the compliance date or 14 days after service.
- Serve a written objection on the party or attorney named in the subpoena. It is not filed.
- Check whether you were meant to appear. Usually you are not.
- Check whether fees and mileage were tendered, if your state conditions the duty on it.
- Ask for costs where the production is substantial.
- Consider narrowing rather than refusing — conditions and limits are expressly available.
If you issue one:
- Take reasonable steps to avoid undue burden. The duty is enforceable against you and your attorney.
- Serve it the way the rule requires, and tender fees where required.
- File it in advance where the rules require that.
- Copy the other parties, and be ready to share what you get.
Where these rules live
- FRCP 45 — Subpoena
- FRCP 37 — Failure to Make Disclosures or to Cooperate in Discovery
- FRCP 26 — Duty to Disclose; General Provisions Governing Discovery
- Ill. S. Ct. R. 201 — General Discovery Provisions
- Ill. S. Ct. R. 204 — Compelling Appearance of Deponent
- CPLR 2304 — Motion to quash, fix conditions or modify
- CPLR 3103 — Protective orders
- O.C.G.A. § 9-11-34 — Production of documents and things
This page explains the shape these rules take across jurisdictions. It isn't legal advice, and the rule governing subpoenas in your court — including any local requirement on service, fees or advance filing — should be read before you issue or respond to one.