Richardson v. Florida

137 F.R.D. 401, 20 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 669, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8247, 1991 WL 107775
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJune 12, 1991
DocketNo. 89-1068-CIV-T-10C
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 137 F.R.D. 401 (Richardson v. Florida) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richardson v. Florida, 137 F.R.D. 401, 20 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 669, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8247, 1991 WL 107775 (M.D. Fla. 1991).

Opinion

ORDER

ELIZABETH A. JENKINS, United States Magistrate Judge.

THIS CAUSE comes on for consideration of plaintiff’s Motion to Exclude Exhibits of Defendant Schaub and Compel (Dkt.113) and defendant Schaub’s response to the motion. (Dkt.116) For the reasons set forth below, the Magistrate Judge grants the motion to compel and denies the motion to exclude exhibits without prejudice.

I

Plaintiff, James J. Richardson (Richardson), states that defendant Schaub’s attorney has subpoenaed documents from third parties, including Western Union, without providing notice to the plaintiff. Plaintiff requests that the court order the defendant to disclose the existence of any other discovery materials obtained without notice to the plaintiff.

Defendant admits that it issued subpoenas duces tecum which were not in conjunction with the taking of depositions to non-parties, but argues that no notice must be provided to opposing parties under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45. Furthermore, defendant states that all Western Union documents were sent to plaintiff’s counsel immediately following pre-trial and that the parties stipulated on November 27, 1990 to provide each other with any documents in their possession, without the necessity of formal motions or requests for production.1

II

Defendant’s contention that a subpoena may be issued to a non-party solely for the production of documents and without notice to the opposing party is not supported by the language of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Federal Rules). Under Rule 45(a), a subpoena may be issued to a non-party to “attend and give testimony at a time and place therein specified.” Rule 45(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. The subpoena “may also command the person to whom it is directed to produce the books, papers, documents, or tangible things designated therein.” Rule 45(b), Fed.R.Civ.P.

The language of Rule 45, which allows a subpoena for deposition to “also command” the person to produce books, papers, etc. clearly contemplates that the production of documents by a non-party is to be in conjunction with attendance at a designated place and time to give testimony. There is nothing in Rule 45 which states a subpoena duces tecum for the production of tangible evidence may be served [403]*403on a person who is not a party to the action, in the absence of the taking of a deposition.2 Therefore, lower courts have held that such discovery subpoenas to produce documents only are irregular and must be quashed. See Bowers v. Buchanan, 110 F.R.D. 405, 406 (S.D.W.Va.1986); Turner v. Parsons, 596 F.Supp. 185, 186 (E.D.Pa.1984); Ghandi v. Police Dept. of the City of Detroit, 74 F.R.D. 115, 118 n. 3 (E.D.Mich.1977); McLean v. Prudential Steamship Co., 36 F.R.D. 421, 426 (E.D.Va. 1965); see also United States v. International Business Machines Corp., 71 F.R.D. 88, 90 (S.D.N.Y.1976).

It is true that the Supreme Court in Wilson v. United States, 221 U.S. 361, 372, 31 S.Ct. 538, 541, 55 L.Ed. 771 (1911) held that the “ad testificandum” clause is not necessary to the validity of a subpoena duces tecum, and that the production of papers by a person may be enforced independently of his testimony. However, the McLean court refused to apply Wilson where a party issued a subpoena duces tecum to a person, in the absence of a deposition and without giving notice to any other party, because Wilson was decided many years prior to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. McLean, 36 F.R.D. at 424-425. However, Wilson can also be distinguished from the present case on another basis.

The subpoena duces tecum for the production of documents in Wilson was issued by a grand jury to the United Wireless Telegraph Company. Wilson, 221 U.S. at 370, 31 S.Ct. at 540. There was no other party involved, so the Supreme Court did not need to reach the issue of whether a subpoena which is solely used for production of documents may be properly issued to a person who is not a party in the case without notice to other parties. The issuance of a grand jury subpoena for production of documents from a witness, at issue in Wilson, involves different concerns than the issuance of a subpoena in a civil adversarial proceeding. It is these concerns which are at the heart of the Federal Rules.

The Federal Rules were designed to facilitate civil litigation and are to be “construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” Rule 1, Fed.R.Civ.P. The discovery rules may be broadly interpreted to effectuate their purpose that “civil trials in fedéral courts no longer need to be carried on in the dark.” Schlagenhauf v. Holder, 379 U.S. 104, 115, 85 S.Ct. 234, 241, 13 L.Ed.2d 152 (1964), quoting, Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 501, 67 S.Ct. 385, 388, 91 L.Ed. 451 (1947).

The issuance of an ex parte subpoena destroys the normal processes of discovery. McLean, 36 F.R.D. at 426. Mutual knowledge of all the relevant facts by both parties is essential to proper litigation. Hickman, 329 U.S. at 507. To this end, an ex parte discovery subpoena does not assist the “just, speedy and inexpensive” resolution of the litigation. Rule 1, Fed.R.Civ.P.

There is a potential for abuse of a subpoena for production which is issued to a third person without notice to the opposing parties. This concern was addressed by the Bowers court, in discussing why a subpoena duces tecum was properly limited to use in conjunction with a deposition and trial under the present Rule 45:

A procedure which allow(s) parties to send out subpoenas duces tecum at will could result in a form of one-sided discovery. In this vein, the requirement that a notice of deposition be filed prior to issuance of a deposition subpoena duc-es tecum serves as a brake on runaway use of the instrument.

Bowers, 110 F.R.D. at 406. One-sided discovery raises concerns about fairness to opposing parties and the person who is subject to the subpoena, as well as about [404]*404the efficient administration of the court system.

The conduct of litigation, to the extent possible, must proceed in a manner which is fair to everyone concerned. When a party issues a discovery subpoena to a non-party to produce documents, without notifying the other parties to the litigation of this fact, it creates a situation which is unfair to the person who is subject to the subpoena, as well as opposing counsel.

There is a potential for the non-party to be subjected to numerous subpoenas to produce the same documents at different places and times by multiple parties to the same lawsuit. Even if the subpoenaed person utilizes Rule 45(d) to object to subsequent productions on the grounds that the repetitious requests are burdensome, this will not cure the problem of inconvenience to that person.

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Bluebook (online)
137 F.R.D. 401, 20 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 669, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8247, 1991 WL 107775, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richardson-v-florida-flmd-1991.