A subpoena works by legally ordering you to give testimony, hand over documents, or both in a case that is already underway; once it has been properly delivered to you, you either comply by the deadline printed on it or formally challenge it in court, and ignoring it exposes you to contempt penalties that can include fines, attorney’s fees, and jail. That is the short answer to how a subpoena works. The longer answer depends on which kind you received, who sent it, and whether it was served correctly.
What a Subpoena Orders You to Do
Read the document first to figure out what it actually demands. A subpoena ad testificandum orders you to appear at a specific time and place and answer questions under oath, either at a pretrial deposition or at trial. A subpoena duces tecum orders you to produce specific documents, records, or physical items. Medical records, company financial statements, and email correspondence are common targets. If the subpoena only asks for records, you often do not have to appear in person; mailing or electronically delivering the material can satisfy the order when arranged in advance.1eCFR. 16 CFR 3.34 – Subpoenas A single subpoena can combine both, requiring you to show up with documents in hand and testify about them.
Who Can Issue One and How It Must Be Served
An attorney involved in the case can draft, sign, and issue a subpoena if they are authorized to practice in the issuing court. A court clerk will also issue a signed, blank subpoena to a party who requests one, and that party fills in the details before service.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena In criminal cases, a judge or magistrate can issue one directly.3U.S. Marshals Service. Criminal Subpoena
For the subpoena to have legal force, it must be properly delivered to you. Under federal rules, any person at least 18 years old who is not a party to the case can serve a subpoena by physically delivering a copy to the named individual. There is an important catch many people miss: when the subpoena requires you to appear for testimony, the person serving it must also hand you a check covering one day’s witness attendance fee and mileage. Without that payment, the subpoena may not be properly served.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena Subpoenas from the United States government or a federal agency do not need to tender fees at service.
How Far You Can Be Made to Travel
A subpoena cannot force you to travel anywhere in the country. Under federal rules, you can only be required to attend a trial, hearing, or deposition within 100 miles of where you live, work, or regularly do business in person. A court can extend that range to anywhere within your home state, but only if you are a party to the case or if attending trial would not cause you substantial expense.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena The same 100-mile limit applies to document production without testimony. A subpoena that demands travel beyond these boundaries is grounds for having it thrown out.
How Much Time You Get
The subpoena will state a compliance date. Federal rules require a “reasonable time” to respond; a subpoena served Monday demanding documents Tuesday would almost certainly fail that test. Fourteen days from service is a common benchmark for document production, because that is also the deadline for filing written objections under the federal rules.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena State courts set their own timelines, so check the date printed on your subpoena.
What You Have to Do After Being Served
Once a subpoena has been properly served, you are legally required to comply. Read it carefully to identify whether it asks for testimony, documents, or both, and note the deadline. This obligation applies even if you have nothing to do with the underlying lawsuit. Non-parties get subpoenaed all the time, and the fact that you are not involved in the dispute does not excuse you from responding.
If you have a legitimate reason to push back, you must formally challenge the subpoena through the court before the compliance deadline passes. Calling the attorney who sent it and explaining why you would rather not comply does not protect you.
Money You Are Owed as a Witness
If you are subpoenaed to testify in federal court, you are entitled to an attendance fee of $40 per day. It covers each day you spend testifying and the travel time to and from the courthouse.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1821 – Per Diem and Mileage Generally
You are also reimbursed for travel. If you drive, you receive a per-mile allowance set by the General Services Administration for federal employee travel. If you fly or take a train, you are reimbursed for the actual cost of the most economical fare reasonably available. Tolls, parking, and taxi or rideshare fares between your lodging and the terminal are also covered. When an overnight stay is necessary, you get a daily subsistence payment for food and incidentals, capped at the federal per diem rate for the location.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1821 – Per Diem and Mileage Generally State courts set their own witness fees, and those daily rates tend to be lower, often between $5 and $35.
There is a further protection non-parties often overlook. The party that issued the subpoena has a legal duty to avoid imposing unreasonable expense on you. The court can sanction the issuing party for failing to keep the burden reasonable, and those sanctions can include your lost earnings and attorney’s fees.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena If complying with a document subpoena would cost you real time or money, raise it with the court rather than absorbing the expense yourself.
How to Challenge a Subpoena
Federal rules give you two main tools, and which one you use depends on what the subpoena demands.
Written Objection for Document Subpoenas
If the subpoena orders you to produce documents or allow an inspection, you can serve a written objection on the attorney who issued it. The objection must be served before the earlier of the compliance date or 14 days after you were served. Once you file the objection, you are not required to produce anything until a court rules on the dispute. The burden then shifts to the issuing party, who must file a motion to compel production if they want to press the issue.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena
Motion to Quash
For any type of subpoena — testimony, documents, or both — you can file a motion to quash. This is a formal request asking a judge to cancel or narrow the subpoena, and it also has to be filed on time. Under federal rules, the court must quash or modify a subpoena that:
- Fails to allow a reasonable time to comply.
- Requires travel beyond the 100-mile boundary or other geographic limits.
- Demands privileged information, such as communications protected by attorney-client or doctor-patient privilege, when no exception or waiver applies.
- Imposes an undue burden given what is being asked for.
The court also has discretion to quash a subpoena that demands trade secrets, confidential business information, or an expert’s opinion when that expert was not hired by any party in the case. In those situations, the judge may allow production under protective conditions instead of killing the subpoena entirely, but only if the requesting party shows a substantial need and agrees to compensate you.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena
A written objection is simpler and works well when you disagree with a document request. A motion to quash is the path when the subpoena is legally defective or when you need the court’s protection from testifying. Either way, act before the deadline. Doing nothing is the worst possible strategy.
What Happens If You Ignore a Subpoena
Courts treat failure to comply as contempt of court, and federal courts have explicit statutory authority to punish disobedience of any lawful court order by fine, imprisonment, or both.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 401 – Power of Court
In practice the consequences escalate. The first step is usually a motion to compel, where the requesting party asks the judge to order you to follow the subpoena. If you still do not comply, the court can impose escalating fines, including civil contempt fines that accumulate daily until you cooperate. The court will often order you to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees incurred chasing you down. In the most extreme cases, a judge can issue a warrant for your arrest.
None of these penalties require you to be a party to the lawsuit. A witness or records custodian who ignores a subpoena faces the same contempt power as anyone else. If you have a problem with the subpoena, challenge it through the proper channels. Silence is not a defense.
What Happens at Work
Most people worry about missing work. No federal statute specifically requires your employer to give you paid leave to comply with a subpoena, and witness fees will not come close to replacing a day’s wages. There is one meaningful protection for salaried exempt employees under federal wage regulations: if your employer docks your pay for missing work to appear as a witness, that deduction can destroy your exempt salary status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer can offset the witness fee you received against your salary for that week without jeopardizing your exempt classification, but they cannot simply withhold a full day’s pay. Many states have their own witness leave laws that go further, so check your state’s rules and your employer’s handbook before your appearance date.
A Subpoena Is Not a Summons
People sometimes confuse the two. A summons notifies you that someone has filed a lawsuit against you and orders you to respond; it starts a case and makes you a defendant. A subpoena pulls you into a case that already exists, not as a party, but as a source of evidence. If you got a summons, you are being sued, and the response required is different from anything covered above.