How to Object to a Subpoena for Documents: Rule 45 Written Objection vs. Motion to Quash

How to object to a subpoena in federal court depends on what it commands. For documents, serve a written objection on the party or attorney designated in the subpoena before the earlier of the compliance date or 14 days after you were served. You serve it; you do not file it. A subpoena for testimony, or one that triggers a mandatory ground to quash, calls for a motion filed in the court for the district where compliance is required.

This guide covers Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 only. State subpoena rules differ on deadlines, forms and venue. If yours was issued by a state court, the rule below does not govern it.

The first decision: what does the subpoena command?

Rule 45 lets a subpoena command three things: testimony, production of documents, electronically stored information or tangible things, or inspection of premises. Rule 45(a)(1)(A)(iii). Your remedy turns on which it is.

A recipient who gets one subpoena with both commands has to treat them separately. A written objection does nothing about the testimony.

Route one: the written objection

The text of Rule 45(d)(2)(B) is short. A person commanded to produce documents or tangible things, or to permit inspection, "may serve on the party or attorney designated in the subpoena a written objection to inspecting, copying, testing or sampling any or all of the materials or to inspecting the premises—or to producing electronically stored information in the form or forms requested." The objection "must be served before the earlier of the time specified for compliance or 14 days after the subpoena is served."

Three points are easy to miss.

Served, not filed. The objection goes to the issuer. Nothing in this subsection requires a filing with the court.

"Earlier of" matters. If the subpoena sets a compliance date nine days out, you have nine days, not 14. The 14 days are a ceiling.

Count calendar days. Under Rule 6(a)(1), exclude the day of service, count every day including weekends and legal holidays, and roll a deadline that lands on a weekend or holiday to the next business day. Our guide to calculating court deadlines walks through the counting rules and the common mistakes.

What the objection does

Once you serve a timely objection, the burden moves. Under 45(d)(2)(B)(i), "at any time, on notice to the commanded person, the serving party may move the court for the district where compliance is required for an order compelling production or inspection." And under (ii), "these acts may be required only as directed in the order, and the order must protect a person who is neither a party nor a party's officer from significant expense resulting from compliance."

In plain terms: you are not required to produce what you objected to unless and until a court orders it, and if the court does, a non-party gets protection from significant compliance costs. This route costs a letter, not a motion, and the issuer has to do the work of going to court. The motion is then procedurally a motion to compel directed at a non-party.

The objection can cover "any or all" of the materials, so you can object to part of a request and produce the rest on time.

What it does not do

The rule says nothing about what happens if you serve the objection late. Courts have filled the gap. In Concord Boat Corp. v. Brunswick Corp., 169 F.R.D. 44 (S.D.N.Y. 1996), the court said a failure to serve timely written objections "typically constitutes a waiver of such objections," but may be excused "in unusual circumstances and for good cause," pointing to circumstances that include a subpoena overbroad on its face and a non-party recipient acting in good faith. Do not plan around that discretion. Check the decisions in the circuit where compliance is required, and treat the deadline as fixed.

An objection also does not cover the testimony part of a subpoena, and it is not a substitute for a motion when a mandatory quash ground applies and you need a ruling before the compliance date.

Route two: the motion to quash or modify

A motion to quash or modify is filed with the court, not served on the issuer alone. It goes to "the court for the district where compliance is required," which is not always the court hearing the underlying case.

Rule 45(d)(3)(A) lists four grounds on which that court "must quash or modify a subpoena" on timely motion:

1. it fails to allow a reasonable time to comply;
2. it requires compliance beyond the geographical limits in Rule 45(c);
3. it requires disclosure of privileged or other protected matter, if no exception or waiver applies; or
4. it subjects a person to undue burden.

Rule 45(d)(3)(B) adds two grounds where the court "may" quash or modify: disclosure of a trade secret or other confidential research, development or commercial information, and disclosure of an unretained expert's opinion. Under 45(d)(3)(C), the court may instead order production on conditions if the serving party shows a substantial need that cannot otherwise be met without undue hardship and assures reasonable compensation.

The rule says "timely" and gives no number. The practical reading is that the motion should be on file before the compliance date, and sooner if you want a ruling first. Local rules and judges' standing orders may add requirements, including a pre-motion conference.

Objection or motion?

For a documents-only subpoena, the two routes are not mutually exclusive on the face of the rule. Many recipients serve the objection first to stop the clock on production, then move to quash if the issuer will not narrow the request. A few rules of thumb:

The mechanics that trip people up

The 100-mile rule

Rule 45(c) sets place limits. A subpoena may command attendance at a trial, hearing or deposition within 100 miles of where the person resides, is employed or regularly transacts business in person. Documents may be required at a place within that same 100 miles. For a trial, hearing or deposition, a party or party's officer can be commanded anywhere in the state where they reside, are employed or regularly transact business in person, and so can any person commanded to attend a trial who would not incur substantial expense. A subpoena that exceeds these limits falls under the mandatory quash ground in 45(d)(3)(A)(ii).

Production of documents does not necessarily mean a person has to show up: under 45(d)(2)(A), a person commanded to produce documents "need not appear in person at the place of production or inspection unless also commanded to appear for a deposition, hearing, or trial."

Notice to the parties

Before a pretrial documents subpoena is served on the recipient, the issuer must serve "a notice and a copy of the subpoena" on each party. Rule 45(a)(4). The 2013 committee note records that parties serving subpoenas "frequently fail to give the required notice to the other parties." A missing notice is a defect worth raising.

Privilege and the log

If you withhold material because it is privileged or trial-preparation material, Rule 45(e)(2)(A) requires you to "expressly make the claim" and "describe the nature of the withheld documents, communications, or tangible things in a manner that, without revealing information itself privileged or protected, will enable the parties to assess the claim." A general statement that something is privileged does not satisfy it. Where AI tools touched the material, see how AI use can affect attorney-client privilege. If privileged material was produced by mistake, 45(e)(2)(B) gives a notice-and-clawback procedure.

Transfer to the issuing court

A compliance-district motion can be sent to the court running the case. Rule 45(f) permits transfer "if the person subject to the subpoena consents or if the court finds exceptional circumstances." The committee note says the proponent of transfer bears the burden of showing exceptional circumstances and that "the prime concern should be avoiding burdens on local nonparties subject to subpoenas."

A party's other option

A party who is not the recipient has another route. Rule 26(c)(1) lets "a party or any person from whom discovery is sought" move for a protective order "in the court where the action is pending." It requires a good-faith conference certification.

How to object to a subpoena in writing: a sample structure

There is no required form for an objection to a subpoena duces tecum, but a clear one does five things:

1. Identifies the subpoena (case caption, court, date served, compliance date).
2. States that it is served under Rule 45(d)(2)(B) and gives the date and method of service.
3. Objects request by request, stating the specific ground: burden and cost with a concrete estimate, overbreadth tied to the actual language, form of ESI, privilege.
4. States what the recipient will produce despite the objections, and when.
5. Claims privilege expressly and promises or attaches the description 45(e)(2)(A) requires.

Boilerplate hurts. A one-line "overbroad, unduly burdensome" with no facts invites the issuer to move to compel and gives the judge no reason to protect you. If the subpoena also commands testimony, our guides to deposition objections and deposition preparation cover that side.

Issuing a subpoena that holds up

If you are the one serving, Rule 45(d)(1) puts a duty on you: you "must take reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue burden or expense on a person subject to the subpoena," and the compliance court "must enforce this duty and impose an appropriate sanction—which may include lost earnings and reasonable attorney's fees." The practical checklist:

• Serve notice on the other parties first, with a copy of the subpoena.
• Set the place within 100 miles and give a reasonable time to comply.
• Tailor the requests to specific custodians, date ranges and file types, and specify the ESI form (Rule 45(a)(1)(C) allows it).
• Include the text of Rule 45(d) and (e) in the subpoena, as 45(a)(1)(A)(iv) requires.
• Call the recipient before serving, and be ready to narrow after an objection arrives.
• Calendar the objection date. If an objection arrives, your motion to compel goes to the compliance district, not necessarily your own court.

A narrow subpoena draws a narrower objection and is more likely to be enforced.

Where research helps

Most of the fight in a subpoena dispute is about what "undue burden" means in a particular district, and that standard is built from case law. Research the compliance court's circuit, because the issuing court's cases may not govern there. CaseRead's matter workspace tracks the 14-day date you enter, and its research chat answers questions with citations to public law and your own vault. It does not issue or serve subpoenas.

Frequently asked questions

How long do you have to object to a subpoena in federal court?

For a subpoena commanding documents or inspection, Rule 45(d)(2)(B) requires the written objection to be served before the earlier of the compliance time stated in the subpoena or 14 days after service. If the subpoena gives you ten days to comply, the ten-day date controls. Testimony subpoenas have no 14-day rule; they require a timely motion.

Do you file an objection to a subpoena with the court?

No. Under Rule 45(d)(2)(B), a written objection to a document subpoena is served on the party or attorney designated in the subpoena, not filed with the court. A motion to quash or modify is different: it is filed with the court for the district where compliance is required.

What is the difference between an objection and a motion to quash?

A written objection is served on the issuer and shifts the burden: the issuer must move to compel, and production is required only as the court orders. A motion to quash or modify is filed by the recipient and asks the court to cancel or narrow the subpoena. Objections cover document subpoenas only; quash motions cover any subpoena.

Can you ignore a subpoena if you serve an objection?

A timely written objection to a document subpoena means production may be required only as directed in a court order on a motion to compel. It does not excuse silence. Ignoring a subpoena with no objection and no motion risks contempt under Rule 45(g) if the court finds no adequate excuse.

Does this apply to state court subpoenas?

Not automatically. Rule 45 governs subpoenas issued in federal civil actions. State courts have their own rules, and the deadline, the form of objection, and the court that hears the dispute all vary. Many states borrowed the federal structure, but you must read the rule and the subpoena itself for the court that issued it.

Before you send or serve it

An objection or a motion to quash is only as good as the authority behind it, and a burden argument usually leans on a handful of district-court opinions. If any of the citations came out of a general-purpose AI tool, run them through the Hallucination Shield first. It is free, needs no signup, and checks up to 50 citations per run for existence. A made-up case in a motion telling a judge a subpoena is oppressive is a costly way to lose the argument.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice. For guidance on a specific case, consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.