Alexander v. Jesuits of Missouri Province

175 F.R.D. 556, 39 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1387, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13143, 1997 WL 536078
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedJune 11, 1997
DocketNo. 96-4109-DES
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 175 F.R.D. 556 (Alexander v. Jesuits of Missouri Province) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alexander v. Jesuits of Missouri Province, 175 F.R.D. 556, 39 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1387, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13143, 1997 WL 536078 (D. Kan. 1997).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NEWMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the court on the motion of witness Jo Adams to quash or modify subpoena. (Doc. 54.) Plaintiff has filed a response to the motion. The court’s ruling was announced at the final pretrial conference. This Memorandum and Order memorializes that ruling.

The facts presented by the motion are for all practical purposes undisputed. On April 18, 1997, only 12 days before discovery was to be concluded in this case, plaintiffs counsel, David Alegría, caused a subpoena to be served upon Ms. Jo Adams for a deposition to commence at 1:00 o’clock p.m. on April 23, 1997; in Topeka, Kansas. Ms. Adams was, at that time, a 41-year-old woman, then in her 17th week of her first pregnancy, who lived and was employed full-time in the Kansas City area. The subpoena was not served on Ms. Adams personally, but was delivered to her husband. It was not accompanied by a witness fee or mileage. The witness contact[558]*558ed an assistant in the office of plaintiffs counsel and requested that the deposition be relocated to Kansas City, offering to make herself available on the date and at the time requested in Kansas City. Plaintiffs counsel declined to take the deposition in Kansas City and canceled the deposition. On April 23, 1997, plaintiffs counsel personally contacted the witness and advised her that he intended to subpoena her for deposition again. The deposition was now to require a full day. The witness requested that the deposition be taken in Kansas City. Plaintiffs counsel refused, allegedly stating “he was not going to do it” because it was “inconvenient” for him. Notwithstanding the witness’s request, on April 25, 1997, a subpoena was served upon the witness, requiring the witness to appear in Topeka, Kansas, for deposition on April 30,1997, at 8:00 o’clock a.m. A witness fee did accompany this subpoena. These facts are supported by the witness’s affidavit. Plaintiffs counsel does not contest directly any of these facts, but rather states:

Although Adams stretches the truth in her allegations regarding her motion, the fact of the matter is that she has refused and failed to appear at two scheduled depositions without valid cause.

Plaintiffs counsel has not filed a counter-affidavit to support his suggestion that the witness “stretches the truth” or identified any inaccurate facts set forth by the witness in her affidavit. Instead, counsel insists that the witness’s deposition be in Topeka, Kansas, and challenges the witness’s claimed concern with respect to travel to Topeka due to her pregnancy. He suggests that he has done nothing “except subpoena this lady twice, and communicated with her over the telephone in response to a series of abusive, inappropriate, unprofessional and otherwise contemptuous telephone calls by Adams to plaintiffs counsel’s office.” Counsel argues that he has asked nothing more of the witness than required by statute.

Fed. R. Civ. 45 provides in relevant part:

(b)(1) ... Service of a subpoena upon a person named therein shall be made by delivering a copy thereof to such person and, if the person’s attendance is commanded, by tendering to that person the fees for one day’s attendance and the mileage allowed by law.
(c)(1) A party or an attorney responsible for the issuance and service of a subpoena shall take reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue burden or expense on a person subject to that subpoena. The court on behalf of which the subpoena was issued shall enforce this duty and impose upon the party or attorney in breach of this duty an appropriate sanction, which may include, but is not limited to, lost earnings and a reasonable attorney’s fee.
(3)(A) On timely motion, the court by which a subpoena was issued shall quash or modify the subpoena if it
(i) fails to allow reasonable time for compliance;
(iv) subjects a person to undue burden.

The court finds that the subpoena should be quashed and that, in the event plaintiffs counsel attempts to take the witness’s deposition, certain restrictions should be established by the court.

The conduct of plaintiffs counsel in the scheduling of the deposition of this witness and the service of the subpoena is violative of Fed.R.Civ.P. 45. The witness was not required to appear at the first scheduled deposition in response to a subpoena which was neither properly served upon her nor accompanied by a tender of a witness fee and mileage. The subpoena was not served on the witness. It was left at her home with her husband. The subpoena was simply unenforceable. Contrary to assertions of plaintiffs counsel, there was no duty on the witness to appear at the scheduled deposition. The witness could have simply failed to appear. However, the witness contacted plaintiffs counsel and advised him of deficiencies in the service of the subpoena and requested that, due to her circumstances, the deposition be taken in Kansas City rather than Topeka. Plaintiffs counsel arbitrarily refused the suggestion that the deposition be taken in Kansas City.

[559]*559Fed.R.Civ.P. 45 requires that the attorney responsible for the issuance and service of a subpoena shall take reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue burden or expense on a person subject to the subpoena. Plaintiffs counsel clearly violated this admonition of Rule 45. The time provided for compliance with the subpoena was inadequate. The subpoena was served on the witness’s husband on Friday for a deposition to take place on the following Wednesday, only five calendar days, three business days, later. The witness is employed full-time, therefore, the notice of the deposition was not only inadequate for the witness, but for her employer. Plaintiffs counsel has cited no reasons for giving such short notice of a deposition, which was to consume an entire afternoon, plus travel time for the witness. The court suspects that counsel simply had delayed conducting discovery until the deadline for its completion was at hand. His own urgency was imposed on the witness.

The court finds the conduct of plaintiffs counsel in issuing the second subpoena was in violation of Fed.R.Civ.P. 45. By the time of issuance of this subpoena, plaintiffs counsel had determined that the deposition would require an entire day. When the witness requested that the deposition be taken in Kansas City, counsel declined because it was inconvenient for him. While counsel discussed the date of this deposition with the witness seven days prior to the proposed deposition, with no agreement being reached as to the time or place of the deposition, the subpoena was issued allowing only three business days’ notice of the deposition. The notice was not reasonable for the same reasons as related to the first subpoena. This deposition was scheduled to start at 8:00 o’clock a.m., in Topeka, Kansas, requiring the witness to leave her home between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m., in order to arrive at the deposition on time.

The conduct of plaintiffs counsel in the scheduling of this deposition was also in violation of MODEL RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT Rule 4.4 which provides:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
175 F.R.D. 556, 39 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1387, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13143, 1997 WL 536078, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alexander-v-jesuits-of-missouri-province-ksd-1997.