How to Respond to a Subpoena - A Guide

In the latter half of 2024, Verizon received over 73,000 subpoenas from U.S. law enforcement and was required by law to provide the requested information. Companies receive thousands of third-party subpoenas annually, and responding usually becomes the task of their in-house legal team or law firm.

The process is time-consuming, regardless of who completes the request. It involves gathering and reviewing documents and ensuring compliance, especially obligations related to document preservation and privacy laws. Other challenges include tight deadlines, the risk of errors, and the complexity of specific cases.

These issues highlight the growing need for efficient, compliant, cost-effective solutions. Subpoena response software can help streamline the response process. Here is a comprehensive guide to mastering subpoena responses using innovative legal software that automates workflows, accelerates processes, and minimizes costs.

The Traditional Subpoena Response Workflow

Subpoenas have been used for centuries to compel individuals to appear in court and provide testimony. As their use evolved, they sometimes also required individuals or companies to produce documents or other forms of evidence.

By 2005, the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) was created to provide a structured framework for the e-discovery process, and in 2006 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) amendments officially recognized e-discovery. However, before this, when an organization or law firm received a subpoena, the traditional response workflow involved:

• Manually receiving and tracking the subpoenas
• Reviewing and alerting relevant parties
• Determining the response strategy
• Identifying, collecting, and reviewing the requested documents
• Preparing and delivering the documents based on subpoena specifications

Although a seemingly straightforward sequence of activities, the process was time-consuming, error-prone, and resource-intensive. Legal teams were also at risk of missing a subpoena's often tight deadlines, failing to comply with all the subpoena's requirements, and incurring high costs.

Modern legal technology such as subpoena response software helped alleviate these challenges by automating and streamlining these steps, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

Key Features of Subpoena Response Software

Subpoena response software streamlines the process of responding to legal subpoenas by automating tasks, managing data, and ensuring compliance. The following key features allow legal teams to respond more efficiently when they receive subpoenas:

• Automated intake and tracking: seamless logging of requests from all sources, including email and mail
• Document collection: efficient collection of relevant documents, often through integrations with various data sources including drag-and-drop uploads and cloud platforms such as Google, Microsoft, Slack
• Centralized document storage: the prioritization of data security, protecting sensitive subpoena-related information using a centralized storage location  
• AI-powered document review: a thorough review of documents for privilege, confidentiality, and responsiveness with features like AI-enhanced redaction and bulk redaction capabilities
• Real-time collaboration: a secure, centralized environment with collaboration features that facilitate communication and coordination among legal teams and other stakeholders
• Archiving and retrieval: searchable storage that facilitates the generation of audit trails for defensible responses

The software can also generate reports to track progress, analyze data, and provide insights into the subpoena response process. It is equipped with automated notifications to alert relevant parties helping ensure more effective deadline management. Automating these tasks streamlines the workflow and potentially reduces costs while improving subpoena handling efficiency.  

How Subpoena Response Software Streamlines Workflow

Despite the thousands of subpoenas, some legal teams receive, responding to them is one of many legal tasks they must perform. As a result, legal personnel, especially those in large firms sometimes work up to 80 hours a week.

Legal response software, including subpoena management solutions, can help lessen the workload by helping efficiently manage tasks such as law enforcement and subpoena requests by:

• Eliminating redundant manual tasks and reducing errors through automation
• Rapidly identifying and culling data ensuring the focus is only on relevant documents while reducing review time
• Enabling proactive data inventory and early case assessment for faster responses
• Customizing workflows and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to fit organizational needs

Achieving Compliance with Ease

Failure to comply with a subpoena, even unintentionally, can have significant legal consequences for organizations including contempt of court charges, fines, and even potential imprisonment. The streamlined process facilitated by the use of efficient legal software helps firms achieve compliance with greater ease and efficiency due to the software's subpoena compliance tools which include:

• Built-in compliance checks that enable privilege review, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) redaction, and audit trails
• Automated reminders and progress tracking to ensure deadlines are met
• Secure data handling and access controls to protect sensitive information
• Easy generation of production logs and compliance reports

The software enhances automation, efficiency, and security throughout the entire subpoena response process- streamlining data collection to production, thereby helping firms easily achieve compliance.

Cost and Resource Savings

Staff time and production costs were significant in the traditional subpoena response workflow. Automated legal workflows help reduce costs and save resources by reducing outside counsel reliance and vendor costs. It also allows legal staff to focus on higher-value work.

Many organizations, like real estate company, Compass, have experienced the benefits of subpoena response software. With one in-house litigator, the company cut subpoena response timelines by 90%, saving 8,875 hours by managing discovery internally. They also reduced their reliance on outside counsel by 95%, saving thousands of dollars per year on external legal spend, allowing them to hire four litigators and a subpoena manager.  

Best Practices for Implementing Subpoena Response Software

Is your organization considering implementing subpoena response software to achieve similar results? The following best practices can help:

• Develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) for subpoena responses
• Conduct a proactive data inventory to prepare for future requests
• Train staff on the new system
• Establish clear roles and responsibilities

Also, consider these when choosing a software provider. Some, like Reveal, offer clients training and certifications through their academy. They also provide support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Implementing Software Solutions to Create a More Resilient Legal Workflow

Subpoena response software is changing the way firms respond to subpoena requests. It facilitates speed, accuracy, compliance, and cost savings. If one of your organization's goals is to have a modern resilient legal workflow consider evaluating and adopting subpoena response software.

Reveal's firsthand knowledge of the intricacies of legal processes helps us create a tailored software solution to suit our client's specific needs. We will build a platform that enables your success and support you beyond the implementation process. Schedule a demo today to start achieving greater efficiency and reducing costs.