Motions To Quash Subpoenas

We can help with your motion to quash.

If you want to discover the identity of someone who posts to a website anonymously or emails to others anonymously, court subpoenas are often the most effective tools for obtaining this information. However, courts must balance, on the one hand, the rights of companies who have been defamed or otherwise injured, and, on the other hand, the First Amendment and other rights of people posting or emailing over the internet anonymously.

Litigating internet speech cases has been a significant part of our practice for over 10 years.

When a subpoena is issued in an attempt to identify an anonymous internet actor, the anonymous party can file a Motion to Quash a Subpoena, relying upon the First Amendment and other constitutional and statutory grounds. The anonymous party may also file his or her Motion to Quash anonymously, and if the Motion to Quash is granted, the anonymous party remains anonymous.

Kronenberger Rosenfeld has handled countless subpoenas in this area of anonymous internet activity. If a service provider has informed you that it has received a subpoena and will disclose your identity unless you file a motion to quash the subpoena, contact us today at (415) 955-1155, ext. 120, or submit your matter using our online case submission form.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

• Successfully moved to quash a subpoena for identifying information of a John Doe defendant in a lawsuit alleging claims against the Doe for intentional infliction of emotional distress and intentional interference with prospective economic relations, in California state court. The court held that the plaintiff had not made a prima facie case for either of his claims, and Doe was entitled to his anonymity. The Doe's identity was kept private, and the plaintiff later dismissed the case.
• Successfully moved to quash a subpoena for identifying information of Jane Doe, a third-party, in cross-civil harassment restraining order cases in California state court. The court held that the subpoenaed documents, i.e., Jane Doe's identity, were not relevant for the proceeding.
• Successfully negotiated withdrawals of subpoenas issued in cases pending outside California, seeking a Doe defendant's identifying information, without the need to file a motion to quash in California state court, thereby protecting the anonymous speakers' rights to anonymity.
  
• Represented John Doe in a motion to quash subpoena seeking information about the owner of a Twitter account.
• Represented a client in an appeal of a motion to quash a subpoena issued pursuant to the federal foreign discovery statute (28 U.S.C. §1782).
• Advised an anonymous blogger who successfully quashed a subpoena seeking his/her identity, issued by a reality TV personality unhappy about negative blog postings.