Using Subpoenas

        Rule 69 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure provides that in the post-judgment collection stage, the judgment creditor may examine any person, including the judgment debtor, in the manner provided in the rules for taking depositions or other discovery. There is no requirement that a writ of execution be “returned unsatisfied” by a sheriff, which return is a condition precedent to obtaining a court order in supplementary proceedings. Experienced collection counsel use both subpoenas (directed at individuals) and subpoenas duces tecum (to compel production of itemized documents), along with a notice of taking deposition (directed at corporate debtors’ officers or individual debtors). When a judgment is against an individual, a person of suitable age and discretion (in effect, an individual aged 14 or older) living in a debtor’s home can be served with subpoenas and notices of taking depositions directed at a debtor.

Seminar Article By: John A. Halpern