How a Business Should Respond to a Federal Rule 45 Subpoena

Identify the issuing process, preserve potentially responsive material, calendar the earliest objection date, and involve counsel before producing. For a federal civil subpoena to a nonparty, Rule 45 provides routes to object, narrow collection and seek court protection. Broad wording alone does not decide validity.

This guide is limited to federal civil subpoenas under Rule 45. The scenario is a business asked for a broad client file, but the issuing court is not established. A recipient's address, including a Florida address, does not identify whether the subpoena came from state or federal court. Do not use federal deadlines for a state subpoena, agency demand, criminal subpoena, arbitral process or informal request. Identify the process and governing rules before applying deadlines.

Start by identifying the document and the issuing court

Do not rely on an email subject line such as “subpoena” or “legal request.” Obtain every page, attachment, proof of service, cover email and any referenced order. Record when and how the business received the papers, who accepted them, and the date shown as the compliance deadline. Preserve the envelope or delivery record if available.

For a federal Rule 45 subpoena, confirm that the document names the issuing court, case title and civil action number, identifies the person commanded, specifies what is required, and gives a time and place. Rule 45(a)(2) says a subpoena issues from the court where the action is pending. A clerk or an attorney authorized to practice in that issuing court can issue and sign it. For a pretrial document subpoena, the serving party must give each party notice and a copy before serving the nonparty. These are useful verification points, not a conclusion that every defect automatically voids the subpoena. Ask counsel to evaluate any defect, service question or court order.

Check how it was served. Under Rule 45(b)(1), a person at least 18 years old who is not a party may serve it by delivering a copy to the named person. If the subpoena commands attendance, the server must also tender fees for one day's attendance and mileage, except when the subpoena issues on behalf of the United States or one of its officers or agencies. Production-only subpoenas do not carry that attendance-fee condition. Have counsel assess a possible service defect rather than assuming it automatically invalidates the subpoena.

The U.S. Courts' current rules page links to the official rules PDF, amended through December 1, 2025. Federal rules do not automatically govern state-court process.

Put a hold on potentially responsive records while counsel assesses scope

Do not delete potentially responsive emails, texts, invoices, project files, cloud data or backups while the request is being assessed. Pause relevant deletion, preserve sources, tell record owners not to edit or discard material, and document the hold scope. An objection or negotiation does not permit routine deletion to continue.

Preservation and production are different decisions. A hold protects potentially relevant information from loss; it does not mean every preserved item must be produced. Rule 37(e) is framed around a party's failure to take reasonable steps to preserve ESI that should have been preserved in anticipation or conduct of litigation, where the lost information cannot be restored or replaced. It does not alone state every preservation duty or remedy for a nonparty recipient. The subpoena still requires prompt legal review and appropriate preservation of potentially responsive material; counsel should assess the recipient's obligations and any court orders. The court's Rule 37(e) remedies also require additional findings.

Record the subpoena date, matter, requested people and periods, likely systems, deletion settings, data owners, vendors, and the person authorized to decide scope. The litigation hold process guide explains broader preservation controls.

Calendar the actual objection deadline, not a convenient one

For a federal Rule 45 document subpoena, a written objection to inspecting, copying, testing or sampling materials, or to the requested ESI form, must be served before the earlier of the stated compliance time or 14 days after service. That is an outside limit, not a guaranteed 14-day response window. If a subpoena served today requires production sooner than 14 days, the earlier compliance date controls under the text of Rule 45(d)(2)(B). A court order or case-specific circumstances may also affect the analysis, so counsel should review the full record immediately.

Calendar the stated compliance date and 14 days after service; the earlier date is the objection deadline pending counsel verification. Record service evidence and time zone. Negotiation alone does not move a deadline. Rule 29 addresses stipulations between parties and requires court approval for an extension that interferes with a court-set discovery-completion date, motion hearing or trial. Because the recipient may be a nonparty, have counsel confirm whether a written agreement changes its compliance date and whether court approval is needed. Treat a court-set date as unchanged until approval or order.

A timely written objection must be served on the party or attorney designated in the subpoena and should identify each request or ESI form being challenged. The objection affects only the objected-to production; continue to address unobjected requests and any separate command to attend unless counsel confirms otherwise. The requesting party may move to compel in the district where compliance is required. Rule 45(g) allows contempt for failure, without adequate excuse, to obey a subpoena. Silence is not a safe strategy.

The court for the district where compliance is required handles a motion to compel or to quash in the ordinary course. If that court did not issue the subpoena, Rule 45(f) permits it to transfer a subpoena-related motion to the issuing court if the recipient consents or exceptional circumstances exist. A recipient should not file in the issuing court by default just because it appears on the subpoena. Counsel should confirm the correct court, local rules, filing method and any required notice before seeking relief.

Measure burden and propose a workable scope

A useful objection is tied to evidence. Break each request into its subjects, custodians, systems, date range, document types, and production form. Identify which sources are readily accessible and which require restoration, vendor assistance, manual reconstruction or interruption of business operations. Estimate people-hours and third-party cost, describe dependencies, and keep the estimate tied to specific requests.

Rule 45(d)(1) requires the party or attorney responsible for issuing and serving the subpoena to take reasonable steps to avoid undue burden or expense. A court in the district where compliance is required enforces that duty and may impose an appropriate sanction. On timely motion, the court must quash or modify a subpoena that allows insufficient time, requires compliance beyond Rule 45(c)'s geographic limits, requires unwaived privileged or protected matter, or subjects the recipient to undue burden. This does not mean every expensive, broad or inconvenient request will be quashed. The court may consider the request's relevance, the dispute, the recipient's relationship to the parties, burden evidence and feasible alternatives.

Offer a specific path forward when appropriate: a named custodian, shorter period, project account, agreed search terms, staged core records, exclusion of unrelated customer files, or usable electronic format. Explain the expected burden reduction and what relevant material remains. Avoid relying only on a “fishing expedition” label. A documented alternative gives counsel and the court something concrete to assess.

If ESI is said to be inaccessible because of burden or cost, Rule 45(e)(1)(D) requires the responding person to support that claim on a motion to compel or for a protective order. The court may still order discovery for good cause under Rule 26(b)(2)(C). Document the source, restoration steps, cost and less burdensome alternatives; ordinary email or a standard cloud export is not automatically inaccessible.

Screen for privilege, privacy and confidential business information

A client file may mix business records with legal communications, work product, personal data, trade secrets, security details and records about people outside the dispute. Identify who created each record, its purpose, participants and attachments. Counsel should decide whether privilege, another protection, law, contract or court order restricts disclosure before anything is produced.

Under Rule 45(e)(2), someone withholding subpoenaed information as privileged or protected trial-preparation material must expressly make the claim and describe the nature of the withheld material enough for assessment without revealing the protected substance. A privilege log or other description may be required depending on governing law and court order. If potentially protected material is produced by mistake, Rule 45(e)(2)(B) provides a notification and handling procedure; it does not eliminate the need for careful review or a court-specific protocol.

Confidentiality is not the same as privilege. A trade secret, customer record or confidential contract is not automatically immune from discovery. Rule 45(d)(3)(B) permits a court to quash or modify in specified circumstances involving trade secrets or confidential commercial information, and the rule also permits conditional production in some cases. Counsel can propose a protective order, redaction, limited use, restricted access or staged production. Do not redact or withhold material on your own without recording the basis and obtaining the required legal approval.

Collect and produce in a traceable way

Once counsel defines production scope, assign an owner to each source and keep an inventory. Search within that scope; preserve unaltered sources and make separate review and production copies. Record source, collection date, period, method, search terms, counts, exceptions, reviewer, redactions and approval, including what could not be collected and why.

Rule 45(e)(1)(A) says documents may be produced as kept in the ordinary course of business or organized and labeled to correspond to the request categories. If the subpoena does not specify an ESI form, the response may use a form in which it is ordinarily maintained or a reasonably usable form. The person responding need not produce the same ESI in more than one form. Confirm the agreed format before converting everything to PDF. Email families, attachments, spreadsheets, metadata, native files and chat context can be damaged by an indiscriminate flattening step.

Before delivery, have one reviewer confirm legal approval and another verify files, counts, attachments, redactions and destination. Use an approved transfer method and retain the manifest, receipt, transmittal, objections, agreements and counsel approval. The litigation evidence export workflow covers production controls; litigation document organization supports the matter file.

Worked example: the “entire client file” request

A fictional one-person property services company receives a federal subpoena for the “entire file” on an address, due 11 days after service. Its records include work orders, email, messages, invoices and photographs; one email includes a lawyer discussing a threatened claim.

The owner sends the packet to counsel, records service details and pauses project deletion. Counsel confirms the court and calendars both dates. The 11-day compliance date comes first and controls the objection deadline unless a valid order or agreement changes it.

The owner and a records lead map sources and estimate search effort. Counsel separates project records from other customers, reviews the lawyer email, and documents how a broader date range would capture unrelated work. The company proposes defined dates and custodians, followed by staged production of core records and a burden estimate.

Counsel records any effective agreement and dates. Otherwise counsel decides whether to object and seek relief in the proper court. The owner preserves remaining email and does not produce the protected thread. This example predicts no ruling.

Mistakes that make a manageable request harder

• Treating every demand as federal. A Florida address does not tell you whether process came from state or federal court. Identify the issuer before applying a deadline.
• Waiting for counsel until the production date. Compare the compliance date with 14 days after service: the objection must precede whichever comes first.
• Assuming “nonparty” means optional. A properly served subpoena can compel production. Raise scope, service, burden and privilege issues through the correct process.
• Ignoring the request while negotiating. A conversation with opposing counsel is not itself an extension or court order.
• Destroying material after objecting. Objection and preservation run on separate tracks.
• Producing the whole file for convenience. A broad collection can expose unrelated customers, privileged communications or confidential data.
• Overstating burden. Support the objection with actual systems, hours, costs, record volumes and alternatives.
• Changing the source during review. Keep originals and create working copies with a documented chain between them.

A counsel-ready checklist

• Save the complete subpoena, attachments, service record, envelope and related correspondence.
• Identify the issuing court, case number, issuing party, named recipient and type of process.
• Route state, agency, criminal, arbitration and informal demands to their own rule set.
• Record service and compliance dates; calculate the earlier Rule 45 objection date only if federal Rule 45 applies.
• Escalate to counsel and assign one business owner for intake.
• Preserve potentially responsive sources and pause relevant deletion under counsel's direction.
• Inventory custodians, systems, date ranges, categories, requested formats and third-party dependencies.
• Record specific burden facts and a narrower, workable alternative.
• Flag privilege, work product, personal information, trade secrets and contractual confidentiality for legal review.
• Agree on scope, extension, format and protective terms in writing where possible.
• Produce only the approved set; validate redactions, counts, file integrity and destination.
• Retain the final production, manifest, communications, objections, agreements and approvals in the matter file.

For workflow intake, see Gotham workflows or contact us. Counsel makes legal decisions.

Questions about business responses to federal Rule 45 subpoenas

Does the federal 14-day objection period always give a business 14 days?

No. Under Rule 45(d)(2)(B), a written objection to document production is due before the earlier of the stated compliance time or 14 days after service. If compliance is set sooner, the earlier date controls. Check the actual subpoena and applicable court orders immediately.

Does a business have to travel to produce documents?

A subpoena for documents may set production at a place within 100 miles of where the person resides, is employed, or regularly transacts business in person under Rule 45(c)(2)(A). A deposition, hearing or trial attendance command has separate geographic limits. Verify which command the subpoena contains.

Can a nonparty object to an entire-file request as too broad?

A nonparty may serve a timely written objection to some or all requested inspection or production. Rule 45 also requires the issuing party or attorney to take reasonable steps to avoid undue burden or expense, and a court must quash or modify on timely motion for undue burden. The outcome depends on the request, record sources, relevance and burden evidence.

Does a written objection automatically stop every subpoena obligation?

Serve a written objection on the party or attorney designated in the subpoena and identify the requests or ESI forms covered. Rule 45 limits compelled production of the objected-to material until an order directs otherwise, but unobjected requests and separate attendance commands still require attention. An objection is not a general extension or permission to ignore the subpoena.

Should a company produce documents that may be privileged?

Do not send potentially privileged or protected material in an unreviewed bulk production. Rule 45(e)(2) requires an express claim and a description sufficient for assessment without disclosing the protected substance. Counsel should also assess waiver, governing privilege law and any protective or clawback order.

Does a subpoena itself create a preservation duty?

A subpoena should trigger immediate preservation escalation, separate from production deadlines. Rule 37(e) is framed around a party's failure to take reasonable steps to preserve ESI that should have been preserved in anticipation or conduct of litigation, where the loss cannot be restored or replaced. A nonparty should not assume Rule 37(e) states every preservation duty or remedy applicable to it; counsel should assess the subpoena, court orders and other applicable law.

Can the business ask the requesting lawyer to narrow the request?

Yes. Counsel can propose narrower custodians, dates, categories, search methods, formats or staged production while protecting the objection deadline. Negotiation alone does not move a deadline. Rule 29 addresses stipulations between parties; counsel should confirm whether a recipient's written agreement changes a subpoena date and whether court approval is needed, especially if a court-set discovery, hearing or trial date would be affected.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. It addresses a federal civil subpoena for documents under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45. State court, criminal, agency and other demands follow different rules. Have counsel identify the governing process, deadlines, privilege and response strategy.
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