If in an Ohio personal injury case an individual is served with a subpoena, there may potentially be grounds to avoid compliance with the subpoena by filing a Motion to Quash.
Ohio Civil Rule 45 states, “On timely motion, the court from which the subpoena was issued shall quash or modify the subpoena, or order appearance or production only under specified conditions, if the subpoena … [r]equires disclosure of privileged or otherwise protected matter and no exception or waiver applies [or] … [s]ubjects a person to undue burden.” Civ. R. 45(C)(3)(b)&(d). Ohio Civil Rule 45 also states that “[i]f a motion is made under division (C)(3)(c) or (C)(3)(d) of this rule, the court shall quash or modify the subpoena unless the party in whose behalf the subpoena is issued shows a substantial need for the testimony or material that cannot be otherwise met without undue hardship and assures that the person to whom the subpoena is addressed will be reasonably compensated.” Civ. R. 45(C)(5).
In the context of a motion to quash a subpoena, the trial court must consider whether the party issuing the subpoena has a “substantial need” for the request. Lambda Research v. Jacobs (2007), 170 Ohio App. 3d 750, 756. Pursuant to Ohio Civil Rule 45(C), if a party fails to demonstrate a substantial need, the court should grant a motion to quash the subpoena, and the failure to do so is an abuse of discretion constituting reversible error. Martin v. The Budd Co. (1998), 128 Ohio App. 3d 115. (Decided under former analogous section.) In light of the foregoing, Plaintiff hereby requests that this Court quash the following subpoenas for the following reasons.
In sum, if you have been served with a subpoena relative to an Ohio personal injury case, there may be grounds to file a Motion to Quash so that you can avoid having to comply with the subpoena.
If you have questions about any of the legal issues raised in this blog, contact Dodosh Law Offices, LLC at 844-253-5291. Or, you can fill out a contact form and Attorney Dodosh will get in touch with you.