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File duces tecum for *only* records, not live witness?

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mahstmacat

Active Member
What is the name of your state? Oregon

I've filed the claim in Multnomah County for the misrepresentation of an item I purchased and I'm trying to find out how to subpoena the records of the furniture company that supposedly sold (but didn't - they never sell cheap knockoffs) the chair to the defendant.

The Court is essentially closed now, so I can't go in and ask these questions -- I emailed them today and the response was below...

Should I ask for 1: the sales records to this particular person? or
2: the sales records of a chair with the particular dimensions of the chair I purchased (which are different from the actual authorized design) or
3: both?

And does anyone know, in OR, since they just have a generic subpoena form with a small square for a duces tecum, if it's even possible to ask only for records, not for the Registered Agent to show up in court? If it is possible, do I do it by an attached "statement under penalty of perjury"?

I asked the Court for how to file the form and of course that comes under the heading of 'no legal advice'. (Doesn't seem like subjective advice to me [as in 'if I were you this would be the strategy I'd take' kind of response], rather just objective form information, but they can do what they want)

Thanks in advance! I may need to file a 'set over' request to give time to get this information; don't know how far in advance I need to do that, esp. since I have to mail it in now...
 
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quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? Oregon

I've filed the claim in Multnomah County for the misrepresentation of an item I purchased and I'm trying to find out how to subpoena the records of the furniture company that supposedly sold (but didn't - they never sell cheap knockoffs) the chair to the defendant.

The Court is essentially closed now, so I can't go in and ask these questions -- I emailed them today and the response was below...

Should I ask for 1: the sales records to this particular person? or
2: the sales records of a chair with the particular dimensions of the chair I purchased (which are different from the actual authorized design) or
3: both?

And does anyone know, in OR, since they just have a generic subpoena form with a small square for a duces tecum, if it's even possible to ask only for records, not for the Registered Agent to show up in court? If it is possible, do I do it by an attached "statement under penalty of perjury"?

I asked the Court for how to file the form and of course that comes under the heading of 'no legal advice'. (Doesn't seem like subjective advice to me [as in 'if I were you this would be the strategy I'd take' kind of response], rather just objective form information, but they can do what they want)

Thanks in advance! I may need to file a 'set over' request to give time to get this information; don't know how far in advance I need to do that, esp. since I have to mail it in now...
Here are links to your previous two threads on the Womb Chair:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/seller-claimed-womb-chair-was-a-particular-brand-and-it-wasnt-it’s-a-knockoff-small-claims-court.656304/

https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/continuing-the-dwr-womb-chair-for-some-reason-the-thread-was-closed.656643

You probably should have added these latest questions to your second, still-open, thread.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Oh, I'm sorry -- should I do that and delete this one?
Now that I have linked to your previous threads, you might as well leave this thread in place. Posters will want to read the background information in your other threads before advising you, however, so you may have to wait awhile for a response. :)

I am not seeing why you would want to subpoena the records of the company, though - and it is entirely possible that the company has not saved old sales records

I suggest you stick with the dimensions of your chair compared to the dimensions of the authentic chair and show the one sold you was misrepresented in the advertising as authentic.
 
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zddoodah

Active Member
I've filed the claim in Multnomah County for the misrepresentation of an item I purchased and I'm trying to find out how to subpoena the records of the furniture company that supposedly sold (but didn't - they never sell cheap knockoffs) the chair to the defendant.
It would be helpful if you provided a short statement of relevant facts. Did you file in small claims court or "regular" court. What was the nature of the misrepresentation? What records are you seeking? What do you mean when you say "the furniture company . . . supposedly sold (but didn't . . .) the chair to the defendant?


The Court is essentially closed now, so I can't go in and ask these questions -- I emailed them today and the response was below..
I'm not sure whom specifically you think you would "go in and ask" or who emailed you, but court personnel should not be instructing you in these things (the typical response is that they cannot give you legal advice).


Should I ask for 1: the sales records to this particular person? or
2: the sales records of a chair with the particular dimensions of the chair I purchased (which are different from the actual authorized design) or
3: both?
Since you told us nothing about your case or what it is you think these records will do for you, there is no way to answer this intelligently.


And does anyone know, in OR, since they just have a generic subpoena form with a small square for a duces tecum, if it's even possible to ask only for records, not for the Registered Agent to show up in court? If it is possible, do I do it by an attached "statement under penalty of perjury"?
Yes, it's possible. I found this form by googling "Oregon subpoena duces tecum form."

P.S. I don't know about Oregon, but I've never heard of filing a subpoena (unless you're attaching it as an exhibit to some motion). Most discovery is self-executing (i.e., the court is not involved in the process).
 

quincy

Senior Member
Doodah, I suggest you read the threads linked to. There is no need for a recap here. There has been PLENTY said about the case so if you want to provide an “intelligent” response, you should read the background.
 

adjusterjack

Senior Member
P.S. I don't know about Oregon, but I've never heard of filing a subpoena (unless you're attaching it as an exhibit to some motion). Most discovery is self-executing (i.e., the court is not involved in the process).
OP's not suing the manufacturer, he's suing the person who sold him a knock-off chair for an original. He wants information form the manufacturer who is not a party to the lawsuit.
 

PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
OP's not suing the manufacturer, he's suing the person who sold him a knock-off chair for an original. He wants information form the manufacturer who is not a party to the lawsuit.
I don't think that changes anything. I receive subpoenas duces tecum fairly often in cases that I don't have any part in. I don't think any of them have come from a court. They are always directly from one of the parties' lawyers.
 

quincy

Senior Member
The authentic Womb chair dimensions are easily accessible online from the manufacturer’s site and can be compared to the chair sold.

I imagine the seller as defendant will claim that he was told it was an authentic chair when he purchased it so he did not intentionally misrepresent the chair in the ad. A DWR representative can be called as a witness to testify their store never sold knockoffs.
 

zddoodah

Active Member
OP's not suing the manufacturer, he's suing the person who sold him a knock-off chair for an original. He wants information form the manufacturer who is not a party to the lawsuit.
I understood that. If the OP were suing the target of the subpoena, a subpoena wouldn't be necessary since the company could be served with ordinary discovery requests. The point of my comment that you quoted (which, frankly, doesn't seem to have anything to do with what you wrote) was that subpoenas are not normally filed, and most discovery is self-executing. That said, most jurisdictions allow attorneys to issue subpoenas but require that self-represented parties have the clerk issue the subpoena. The subpoena still isn't filed, though, and it is the responsibility of the self-represented party to have the clerk-issued subpoena served.

By the way, if the point of all this is that the target of the subpoena didn't sell the couch to the defendant, serving a subpoena duces tecum isn't likely the best way to go about it.
 

quincy

Senior Member
I understood that. If the OP were suing the target of the subpoena, a subpoena wouldn't be necessary since the company could be served with ordinary discovery requests. The point of my comment that you quoted (which, frankly, doesn't seem to have anything to do with what you wrote) was that subpoenas are not normally filed, and most discovery is self-executing. That said, most jurisdictions allow attorneys to issue subpoenas but require that self-represented parties have the clerk issue the subpoena. The subpoena still isn't filed, though, and it is the responsibility of the self-represented party to have the clerk-issued subpoena served.

By the way, if the point of all this is that the target of the subpoena didn't sell the couch to the defendant, serving a subpoena duces tecum isn't likely the best way to go about it.
It was a chair. There are links to the background information conveniently provided for those who want to offer advice. Please read them.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Couch....chair...stool...bench...throne...sex swing.... Whatever. Doesn't make the slightest difference for purpose of the discussion about the subpoena.
It makes a difference in the case, however, because the case centers on the authenticity of the chair.

If you don’t want to be informed about the case, fine. Just don’t ask to have information repeated that has been fully discussed elsewhere.
 

zddoodah

Active Member
It makes a difference in the case, however, because the case centers on the authenticity of the chair.
Not sure what's unclear to you. The nature of the item sold has nothing at all to do with the process of getting a subpoena issued and served.

As far as the background story, you addressed that in your post over five hours ago, and I have not since made any further inquiry about the facts. No need to repeat the same thing over and over.
 
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