Art. 1354.Subpoena Duces Tecum

Duces tecum is Latin for bring with you, and a subpoena duces tecum is exactly that: a subpoena that orders someone to appear at a trial, deposition, or hearing and bring specific books, papers, documents, tangible things, or electronically stored information along with them. It differs from an ordinary subpoena, which only compels testimony, by reaching into a person's files and records as well as their presence. Article 1354 is the chapter's most detailed article because it has to answer a long list of practical questions this kind of subpoena raises.

Paragraph A requires that whatever's being demanded be reasonably described, lets a subpoena specify the form electronic information should take, and requires the requesting party to take reasonable steps to avoid piling undue burden or cost on the person subpoenaed. A court can vacate or modify a subpoena it finds unreasonable or oppressive, and certified copies or extracts can usually stand in for originals. If the request doesn't insist that the named person personally appear, someone else who knows the contents of the materials can show up as a representative instead.

Paragraph B gives the person subpoenaed a chance to push back: within fifteen days of service, or sooner if the deadline for compliance falls before that, that person can send written objections with reasons to the requesting party or attorney. An objection doesn't end the matter — it shifts the burden to the requesting party, who can then move to compel compliance and ask for sanctions. Paragraphs C through F round out the production mechanics: documents get produced as they're normally kept in business or organized to match the categories demanded, electronically stored information can be produced in whatever form the person ordinarily keeps it in if the subpoena doesn't specify one, the same information never has to be produced twice in different forms, and information from sources that aren't reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost can be withheld unless the requesting party shows good cause and the court orders it produced anyway, potentially with the costs allocated between the parties.

Paragraph G adds a sharper consequence when the person subpoenaed is an adverse party: the requesting party can attach a sworn written statement of what facts the documents are expected to prove, and if the subpoenaed party doesn't comply, those facts are taken as confessed, on top of the contempt penalties Article 1357 makes available. And Paragraph H requires every subpoena duces tecum to reproduce this entire article in full — which is why the article's own text often appears printed on the face of the form itself.