You may be asking yourself, “Why do I have to ‘domesticate’ a subpoena? What does that even mean?”

The reason subpoenas have to be domesticated stems from American Federalism. The extent of a state’s subpoena power is coterminous with its borders.  (See 97 C.J.S., Witnesses, § 17, p. 367, § 23, p. 375, § 25, p. 380; 81 Am.Jur.2d, Witnesses, § 8, p. 32, § 14, p. 39.)  “[N]o State can exercise direct jurisdiction and authority over persons or property without its territory…”  (Pennoyer v. Neff (1887) 95 U.S. 714, 722.)

Let’s use an example. Arizona only has power over its own borders. If someone were to serve a subpoena in an Arizona case on someone who resided in, say, California, that would be impeding on California’s borders and California’s jurisdiction. California would have to approve of such an imposition. That is where the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act (“UIDDA”) and the process of domestication comes in.

The UIDDA is a uniform law that easily allows one state to use the other state’s subpoena powers to enforce a subpoena. By domesticating the Arizona subpoena in California under the UIDDA, A party in an Arizona case is using California’s subpoena power, rather its own, to serve the California resident.

Our website details how to domesticate an out of state subpoena in California.

Do you need to retain local counsel in California to domesticate a subpoena from another state? We can help and we can do it for a low, flat fee. You can contact us by e-mail or call us at 858-793-8884.

Nothing herein constitutes a warranty, guarantee or prediction of your case.  Case results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result.