Domesticating a Subpoena in Delaware
Lawyers rely on subpoenas to collect essential information and evidence for their cases. In the past, the process of taking witness depositions and acquiring discovery outside the state where a lawsuit is filed was time-consuming and challenging. To address this, the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act (UIDDA) was enacted in 2007. Delaware adopted the UIDDA in July 2010, facilitating a quicker and more efficient service of domesticated foreign subpoenas to individuals outside the state.
The law recognizes two types of subpoenas: subpoenas ad testificandum (testimonial subpoenas) and subpoenas duces tecum (document subpoenas and subpoenas for the inspection of premises).
Testimonial subpoenas request the recipient to testify by answering predetermined questions at a trial. Document subpoenas (subpoenas duces tecum) seek specific documents, designated books, or permits for premises inspection from the respondent. In this article, you will learn why Countrywide Process LLC is the best choice for domesticating a subpoena in Delaware.
The UIDDA Process:
In many legal trials, the presence of witnesses and depositions crossing state lines is mandatory. In such cases, lawyers are obligated to contact a county clerk and secure a foreign subpoena. This process compels individuals to testify or compels companies to provide valid information for the trial.
Nevertheless, the subpoena domestication process can often be long and complicated, involving two different jurisdictions and adherence to distinct Rules of Civil Procedure.
Luckily, you don’t have to visit Countrywide Process LLC’s headquarters in New York to domesticate a subpoena. Moreover, you don’t need to learn the state service rules yourself. Countrywide Process LLC employs professional process servers who can domesticate and promptly serve an out-of-state subpoena.
The UIDDA makes it more effective and less costly to depose individuals from out-of-state and to acquire discoverable evidence from outside the trial state. Under the UIDDA, a lawyer gets a subpoena issued by a court in the trial state. He presents this to a court clerk in the state where discoverable materials are sought.
Countrywide Process LLC’s team has extensive experience in assisting civilians, solo-practice attorneys, corporations, law firms, and courts with all sorts of legal support services, including domesticating subpoenas. Our experts will manage the whole process, so that clients can focus on case preparations and research.
With the passing of the UIDDA, you can afford a streamlined way of gathering the necessary information for the advancement of a legal case. Forty-four states, including Delaware, recognize the UIDDA. This act allows litigators to manage vital aspects of their legal cases swiftly and with ease, such as acquiring evidence, deposing individuals, and asking for the presence of witnesses from other jurisdictions.
Submitting a request to the local court is necessary for domesticating a subpoena in the states that recognize the UIDDA. This application includes filing a petition and submitting certain documents to the court. For some cases, you will need an attorney to assist you with the formal petition.
Once they receive the foreign subpoena, the clerk of court will then issue a subpoena for service upon the person or entity to which the original subpoena is directed. The person or entity served must then comply with the request for production of documents or sworn testimony as if they had been served with a local subpoena. The UIDDA thus provides a streamlined process for obtaining information from out-of-state witnesses and sources.
All subpoenas include the name of the county where it is issued and the specific court, as well as indicate the name of the court, the title of the action, and the civil action number. Every recipient of a subpoena is obliged to attend the trial and provide testimony or produce asked-for evidence, such as documents, designated books, and other tangible things relevant to the case.
In some cases, the command to be present at trial may arrive together with a permit inspection or a command to offer evidence. In others, they can be presented separately. Apart from the aforementioned basic information, the subpoena should also disclose the time and place of the testimony, inspection, or production as well as the requested documents in the case.
The Process of Domesticating a Foreign Subpoena in Delaware The UIDDA domestication process applies to the service of out-of-state subpoenas in Delaware. The method also applies to discovering a non-party witness located outside Delaware if the other jurisdiction has adopted the UIDDA.
A domesticated subpoena must contain all the terms in the foreign subpoena. It must also include all parties’ identities, addresses, contact numbers, and counsel related to the case.
Suppose the other jurisdiction has not yet adopted the UIDDA. In that case, a subpoena must be obtained following the rules of the subpoenaed party’s jurisdiction. This means the lawyer must file a formal petition with the local court requesting it to issue a commission. In doing so, the lawyer must also submit related documents. A commission is a document that requires the witness to appear for a deposition (or to produce documents) in a foreign jurisdiction.
In some cases, a witness from out-of-state cannot be forced to testify or be deposed in Delaware. Suppose the witness does not live in Delaware and the lawyer wants to take the witness’s deposition. The lawyer must then obtain a subpoena from the court in the state where the witness resides. They may also request that the Delaware court issue a commission.
Subpoenas are written orders from an administrative agency or court that urges an individual to become a witness in a trial or give vital evidence. This makes subpoenas a time-sensitive matter. Attorneys are usually in urgent need of evidence and witnesses before their arranged court date.
In addition, serving a subpoena to a witness comes at certain costs. If you or your client were the one who requested the witness’s presence at court, you or your client is responsible for covering the witness’s travel costs.
Countrywide Process LLC has extensive experience in serving domesticated subpoenas in Delaware. Our professionals offer several legal support services, including:
Calculation of witness fees
Email updates in real-time
Three delivery attempts
Emailed copy of the affidavit of service.
Our satisfied customers in the legal field speak to the quality of our services.
man holding documentsServing a Domesticated Foreign Subpoena Once a domesticated foreign subpoena is issued, it can be served by a professional process server. The process of service must follow the rules of the state where the subpoena is to be served.