W. G. (GERRY) PALMER AND AUDIO SYSTEMS OF FLORIDA, INC., PETITIONERS,
v.
CAROLYN ANN SERVIS, RESPONDENT
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In this dissolution action, the Fifth District Court of Appeal granted a writ of certiorari to quash an order that denied a protective order against a broad subpoena duces tecum issued by the wife for the husband's employer's financial records. The court held that discovery requests must designate documents with sufficient particularity and that the wife should first establish the husband's current financial interest in the business before accessing detailed corporate financial information.
The court held that the subpoena must be quashed because it failed to designate documents with sufficient particularity—a blanket request for general categories of items is insufficient. Additionally, by analogy to accounting cases, discovery should be limited initially to matters establishing the wife's right or interest before she may access the corporation's internal financial details.
[1] A subpoena duces tecum must designate documents with sufficient particularity to affirmatively suggest their existence and materiality and to allow a reasonable person to…
[2] A blanket request for a general category of documents in a subpoena duces tecum is insufficient.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The subpoena duces tecum should not become a search warrant, requiring a witness to produce broad categories of items which the party can search to find what may be wanted.”
Establishes the core principle that subpoenas must not permit fishing expeditions through broad categories; documents must be designated with particularity.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn a dissolution of marriage action, the wife issued a subpoena duces tecum to the individual petitioner (president of the corporate petitioner) requi…
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COWART, Judge.
In this original proceeding petitioners seek a writ of common law certiorari to review a pre-trial non-final order in a dissolution action which, by denying petitioner’s motion for a protective order,1 effectively granted discovery. We have jurisdiction under article V, section 4(b)(3), Florida Constitution, and Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.030(b)(2)(A) and 9.100.
The dissolution complaint alleges that the husband was an employee of the corporate petitioner and had a financial interest in that company. This allegation is admitted in the husband’s answer. The subpoena duces tecum, caused to be issued by the wife, requires the individual petitioner, as president of the corporate petitioner, to produce all financial books and records, financial reports, statements of income and loss, balance sheets, corporate books, minutes and records of the corporate petitioner.2
The rule3 authorizing a subpoena duces tecum provides that the subpoena may command the witness to produce books, papers, documents or tangible things “designated” therein. The word “designated” is also" the qualifying word used to describe the documents a party can be required to produce.4 Petitioners are mere third persons subpoenaed as witnesses in this dissolution action. “Designation” requires some degree of specification.5 A blanket request for a general category is insufficient. The subpoena duces tecum should not become a search warrant, requiring a witness to produce broad categories of items which the party can search to find what may be wanted. The desired docu ments, books or papers should be designated with sufficient particularity as to affirmatively suggest their existence and materiality and so describe them that any reasonable person can identify them.
The wife is, of course, entitled to discover the husband’s interests, if any,6 in the corporate petitioner. However, by analogy to the principle applied in cases for an accounting,7 she should be first limited in discovery to matters relating to the establishment of her right or interest8 before she is entitled to learn of the internal financial details of the corporation itself. This is only fair not only because of the violation of others’ rights of privacy but, also, because there is no adequate remedy to recover knowledge after it has once been wrongfully gained. For this reason certiorari is frequently used to review orders granting discovery.9
The petition is granted and the order denying protection is quashed.
DAUKSCH, C. J., and COBB, J., concur. . Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.280(c).
. The subpoena required the production of other matters concerning which there was no objection.
. Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.410(b).
. Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.350(a).
. See Annotation: Necessity and sufficiency ... of “designation” of documents, etc., in applications or motions, 8 A.L.R.2d 1134 (1949).
. While the husband’s answer admits an interest in the business, the petitioner’s motion for protective order alleges that the husband has now conveyed to the individual petitioner the corporate stock the husband previously had and alleges that the husband is now but an employee.
. The proper practice in an accounting case is a two stage determination where the trial court determines the initial question of the plaintiffs right and defers discovery as to the financial details until after the preliminary issue of the right to the accounting is settled. Charles Sales Corp. v. Rovenger, 88 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 1956).
. In this case the right to go into the financial details of a third person’s business affairs should be deferred at least until the wife has established by evidence, acquired if necessary through other discovery proceedings, that the husband presently has a financial interest in the business.
. See Kilgore v. Bird, 149 Fla. 570, 6 So. 2d 541 (1942), cited in Rogers & Baxter, Certiorari in Florida, 4 U.Fla.L.Rev. 477, 505 n. 100 (1951); Boucher v. Pure Oil Co., 101 So. 2d 408, 410 (Fla. 1st DCA 1957), cited in Haddad, Certiorari in Florida, 29 U.Fla.L.Rev. 207, 224 n. 133 (1977).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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E. Colonial Refuse Serv., Inc. v. Velocci, 416 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)…to the irreparable harm involved when an order impermissibly grants discovery of a nondiscoverable item, common law certiorari is an appropriate remedy. See, e.g., Travelers Ins. Co. v. Habelow, 405 So. 2d 1361 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Palmer v. Servis, 393 So. 2d 653 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). See generally W. Haddad, The Common Law Writ of Certiorari in Florida, 49 U.Fla.L.Rev. 207, 220 (1977). . See, e.g., Central Florida Skates, Inc. v. Thomas, 393 So. 2d 1200 (Fla. 5th DCA), review denied, 402 So. 2d 608 (Fla.198…
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Powell v. Wingard, 402 So. 2d 532 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)…ed to review orders allegedly improperly compelling discovery. See, e. g., Insurance Company of North America v. Noya, 398 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Central Florida Skates, Inc. v. Thomas, 393 So. 2d 1200 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); Palmer v. Servis, 393 So. 2d 653 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); State v. Dolen, 390 So. 2d 407 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). As to certiorari and interlocutory orders generally, see The Hawaiian Inn of Daytona Beach, Inc. v. Snead Construction Corp., 393 So. 2d 1201 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). THE PETITIO…
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Pyszka v. Mullin, 602 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)…ure of information delineating the partners’ financial situations unnecessarily violates their privacy rights. See Orlowitz v. Orlowitz, 199 So. 2d 97, 98 (Fla.1967); Bradstreet v. Taraschi, 529 So. 2d 809, 810 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988); Palmer v. Servis, 393 So. 2d 653, 655 (Fla. 5th DCA [*956] 1981). In determining whether to limit the scope of discovery to protect a person’s right of privacy, the trial court must balance the relevant competing interests. Rasmussen v. South Florida Blood Serv., Inc., 500 So. 2d 5…
Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Charles Sales Corp. v. Rovenger, 88 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 1956)
- Boucher v. The Pure OIL Co., 101 So. 2d 408 (Fla. 1st DCA 1957)