Legal professionals often prefer to have full control of their duties. But the legal process usually entails mountains of paperwork. Drafting a deposition subpoena is one of those paperwork-intensive tasks that can require time and concentration. Fortunately, subpoena preparation services are available from Fund Capital America (through On-Call, a subpoena service company) to help your law firm run more smoothly.
A subpoena is a request for someone to appear in court or produce required documents for a legal proceeding. While that might not sound too complicated, issuing a subpoena requires preparing specific documents, starting with a letter of demand for the request. The process can be time-consuming for one case, let alone for a legal practice managing multiple cases at once.
Why Do I Need a Subpoena Preparation Service?
There are many considerations when preparing and serving a subpoena. The workload can strain a law firm staff faced with numerous administrative tasks. You should consider using a subpoena preparation service for these reasons:
- There are different types of subpoenas: A witness subpoena requires a person to make a court appearance and testify, while a subpoena for the production of evidence (subpoena duces tecum) is a court order for a person to produce documents or records at a specified time and place. A deposition subpoena orders copies of business records to be provided at a deposition (by a person not a party to a lawsuit).
- Handling subpoenas requires good record-keeping: Just because a party is summoned to appear in court doesn’t mean they’re going to respond or show up as required. We produce and follow up on served subpoenas to help your case move along. Therefore, attorneys and their staff can allocate their time to more productive activities.
- The process requires obtaining numerous pertinent records: Gathering medical and business records requires filling out forms, making phone calls, and submitting requests. A subpoena preparation service ensures all relevant records are received, organized, and tracked. At FCA, we request authorizations of subpoenas and copy important records, index them, and obtain calendar dates. Duplicate X-rays and other health records are also gathered and organized.
- Subpoenas have deadlines: An individual served with a subpoena is given time to respond. In a civil action, a subpoena to appear in court and produce evidence requires a response within 15 days (or a time agreed upon by the party serving the subpoena). Subpoenas for criminal actions require five days or within an agreed-upon time to respond. The recipient of a deposition subpoena has 15 days from the service of, or 20 days after the issuance of, a deposition subpoena (whichever date is later). We diligently track all subpoenas and follow up on responses as necessary.
- Quality Control: During subpoena preparation, diligent quality control ensures all available records are obtained, dates are accurately recorded, and high-quality copies of documents are produced. Advanced rotary cameras, scanners, and copiers allow us to maintain tight quality control, from receiving the first document to preparing and serving the subpoena and notice to the parties in the action.
Aside from accurate and efficient record copying, our subpoena preparation services include tabbing, indexing, and Bates stamping. The capabilities provided by On-Call enable us to expedite the issuance of subpoenas. They also allow your firm to be more productive and invest more time and energy into addressing clients’ legal challenges.
Contact Fund Capital America to Get Started
To benefit from our subpoena preparation services, fill out the form on our website and a representative will be in touch. We work directly with an experienced subpoena service company run by trained legal and court procedural experts. For expedited issuance of subpoenas in your case, apply today or call (855) 870-2274.
