Serving a Subpoena

[Mark Maroon]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? The case involves NJ, FL, and VA

The plaintiff is in NJ (case filed in NJ)
The defendant is in FL
The bank is originally incorporated in VA, but it does business in all 50 states.

I sent a subpoena to a national bank (I won't name them specifically, but think Bank of America, Chase, Capital One, etcetera) requesting information about the defendant's credit card account. The bank has said that they "reside" in VA, so they will ONLY respond to a subpoena that was issued by a court in VA and they will not respond to a subpoena that was issued by a court in NJ. That is their only reason for not responding to the subpoena.

I can understand and agree with this reasoning if this was a local bank, that was located only in VA, and that did not do business in NJ. But the bank systematically engages in business with the residents of NJ providing them with credit cards, and I believe that is sufficient to subject the bank to the general jurisdiction of the NJ courts - including the requirement that they respond to subpoenas issued by courts in the state of NJ.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? The case involves NJ, FL, and VA

The plaintiff is in NJ (case filed in NJ)
The defendant is in FL
The bank is originally incorporated in VA, but it does business in all 50 states.

I sent a subpoena to a national bank (I won't name them specifically, but think Bank of America, Chase, Capital One, etcetera) requesting information about the defendant's credit card account. The bank has said that they "reside" in VA, so they will ONLY respond to a subpoena that was issued by a court in VA and they will not respond to a subpoena that was issued by a court in NJ. That is their only reason for not responding to the subpoena.

I can understand and agree with this reasoning if this was a local bank, that was located only in VA, and that did not do business in NJ. But the bank systematically engages in business with the residents of NJ providing them with credit cards, and I believe that is sufficient to subject the bank to the general jurisdiction of the NJ courts - including the requirement that they respond to subpoenas issued by courts in the state of NJ.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

An attorney would know how to handle this. Sounds like you might need one.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

I received a similar response from Google.

I replied that since they had registered as a foreign corporation with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, they had chosen the protection and jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Court, and that if they did not provide the requested documents by the end of the week, I would file a motion to compel production and seek sanctions.

Of course, this was a properly served subpoena duces tecum in Massachusetts. New Jersey is different.