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Courts and procedure

Subpoena

A command, issued under a court's authority, requiring a witness to appear and give testimony.[1]

In more detail

A related order, a subpoena duces tecum, requires documents.[1] Mediation privilege laws generally let a mediator refuse to testify about mediation communications.[2] In Florida's court arbitration, a party may ask the court to let the arbitrator issue subpoenas.[3]

Varies by state

This is the federal courts' definition; state courts use the word the same way, though procedures differ by state. Find your state’s rules.

Related terms

  • DepositionTestimony given under oath outside the courtroom, before an officer who can administer oaths, usually to gather facts before trial.
  • DiscoveryThe process in which each side gets information from the other before trial, through tools such as depositions, written questions and requests for documents.
  • Mediation privilegeA legal right to refuse to disclose, and to stop others from disclosing, mediation communications in a later court or other proceeding.

Read next on MediationList

Sources

The official documents this definition is based on, with the date we last read each one. Definitions are in our own words.

  1. Glossary of Legal Termsuscourts.govchecked ↩
  2. RCW ch. 7.07, Uniform Mediation Act (as enacted in Washington)app.leg.wa.govchecked ↩
  3. Fla. Stat. § 44.103 (Court-ordered, nonbinding arbitration)leg.state.fl.uschecked ↩

General information, not legal advice. MediationList is not a law firm. Spotted an error? Tell us.

Cite this page

Page updated

MediationList. (2026, October 28). Subpoena: Definition. https://mediationlist.com/glossary/subpoena/

APA 7th ed. A retrieval date is included only for pages whose content changes, such as maps, data and tools.