Unreasonable Subpoena Request
Q:
I know that I need to respond to a subpoena, but I just got served with this request and I am at a complete loss here. They are asking me to produce:
"All appraisals you prepared of residential properties between January 1, 2017 and the present located within a 2.0 mile radius of the subject property, located at {address}. To avoid any undue burden, you are not being asked to provide any supporting documents, only the appraisal report."
I don’t want to be difficult but how do I even go about starting to respond to this? This is a densely populated area. I would have to map it and figure out the streets and the addresses on those streets. Plus, we are talking about reports done over the past 5 years. Will I get paid for this?
A:
You are absolutely correct in questioning the reasonableness of this request. If the requesting counsel wants you to produce reports he or she is going to have to narrow that request or pay you to search your records...if that would even be possible considering the limited information provided.
You have coverage available under your policy to assist you with responding to subpoenas, so the first thing we need to do is to retain local counsel to help with this. Hopefully, counsel can negotiate something amicably. If that does not work, a formal objection can be filed in court.