Receiving a Federal Grand Jury Subpoena: What You Need to Know

Why Receiving a Federal Grand Jury Subpoena is a Serious Matter

Receiving a federal grand jury subpoena is a serious matter that can have significant negative consequences. Whether you are the target of a federal investigation or prosecutors believe you have information that they can use to pursue charges against another person or company, you must respond with caution.

The grand jury proceeding is an investigative process that seeks to determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to establish probable cause to pursue charges. This often means that grand jury subpoenas request extensive information and records, and responding can present risks for both targets and witnesses. It is essential to work with experienced attorneys, such as Spodek Law Group and Attorney Todd Spodek, who have a deep understanding of the law and can help guide you through the process.

10 Steps to Take After Receiving a Federal Grand Jury Subpoena

Upon receiving a federal grand jury subpoena, there are several crucial steps that you should take promptly. These steps will help you comply with the subpoena, avoid being held in contempt of court, and minimize the risk of facing substantive charges as a result of the grand jury proceeding. Here are the 10 essential steps you need to take after receiving a federal grand jury subpoena:

Review the subpoena carefully to ensure a clear understanding of the recipient’s response obligations.
Engage experienced federal defense counsel, such as Spodek Law Group and Attorney Todd Spodek.
Determine why you received the subpoena and whether you are being treated as a target or a witness.
Implement a legal hold to preserve all responsive records, whether stored onsite or remotely.
Develop a response plan that addresses all aspects of the response process, including document collection and review procedures.
Evaluate grounds for challenging the subpoena, if any.
Contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office to discuss the subpoena and the government’s investigation in general, with the help of your legal counsel.
File a motion to quash if efforts to negotiate the scope of the subpoena are unsuccessful.
Prepare a substantive response while preserving all privileges, such as attorney-client privilege.
Prepare to appear in federal district court if called to testify, with a clear strategy in place.

5 Mistakes to Avoid After Receiving a Federal Grand Jury Subpoena

In addition to taking the essential steps outlined above, there are also several critical miscues that you need to avoid. Here are five common mistakes that can lead to unnecessary complications in federal grand jury cases:

Waiting too long to begin your response efforts.
Assuming your motion to quash will succeed without preparing a substantive response.
Ignoring the risks of non-compliance and failing to take your response efforts seriously.
Failing to review all responsive documents for privilege, relevance, and other concerns before providing them.
Taking a “wait-and-see” approach instead of engaging defense counsel promptly and taking a proactive approach.

What does a grand jury subpoena mean?

It means that law enforcement believes you have evidence or could provide testimony that would help them in their criminal investigation. But that’s not necessarily a problem. Law enforcement may not be focused on you or your company in particular, and instead wants you to help provide them information about others.

Whenever you are connected to a criminal investigation in any way, you have to proceed very carefully. If law enforcement looks closely at your practices, they may find that you have potential liability of your own. If you give prosecutors enough information and time, you never know what they’ll find by the time they’re done searching.

How to determine if the government is looking at potentially charging you or your company?

Sometimes the government will tell you upfront if you ask the right questions. Otherwise, you need an experienced lawyer who’s used to dealing with complex white-collar investigations to help you determine whether or not you have potential liability, based in part on communications with the government.

What happens if the government is looking at charging you or your company?

There are strategies by which we can manage the government’s investigation to try to convince the government not to proceed, narrow the investigation, or help you develop potential defenses. Government investigations often drag on for years, and it’s important that you actively and aggressively manage your defense throughout the course of the investigation.

If you just sit back and wait for the government to charge you, you’ll be caught unprepared when they decide to seek charges. By that time, they will have all their ducks in a row and be ready to proceed, potentially with a broader and more damaging indictment than you might have seen had you actively managed the investigation.

What are the challenges of being under investigation?

For one thing, you can’t talk to many people about what’s happening, because your conversations could be used against you in the proceedings, if those people are called as witnesses. In this role, Attorney Todd Spodek frequently serves as almost a guidance counselor to his clients. He listens to their worries and concerns, and tries to provide some perspective and calm. It’s rare that you can be a true confidant and advisor to a person on the precipice of a life-altering event.

What are the immediate impacts of an indictment?

For many people, their employment can be affected right away. Especially if you’re facing charges related to your actions as a licensed professional, for example as a physician or trader. It’s a life-altering event that is not easy to navigate. All indictments are made public shortly after they’re served, and they often contain details about the allegations. In cases of alleged fraud, indictments could contain dollar amounts, which, depending on their size, could spur significant media attention. This is