Your subpoena checklist

Receipt of a subpoena to produce documents can be the government agency's first formal exposure to the wider dispute or controversy in progress and may signal, at worst, an imminent claim or cross-claim, or, at least, heightened stakeholder interest.

Early consideration of the issues and the response can help manage risk, including by the agency re-familiarising itself with the facts (and location of documents), particularly where events occurred some time ago and relevant staff may not be available.

Frequently, however, subpoenas languish in an obscure inbox or in-tray until they become a problem shared, just before the return date.

The preferable approach is to work through the issues well beforehand, to maximise the benefit of the time available for reviewing, investigating, negotiating, recording and reporting.