Opinion ID: 1201200
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Service of the Subpoena Duces Tecum

Text: Emphasizing its status as a non-party, foreign corporation, Progressive contends that the Circuit Court was without jurisdiction to enter the contempt and sanction orders because the subpoena duces tecum was served upon Progressive through the Secretary of State, rather than by personal service as contemplated under W.Va. R. Civ. P. 45(b)(1) and W.Va. R. Civ. P. 4(d)(1)(A). Rule 45(b)(1) states that [s]ervice of a subpoena upon a person named therein shall be made in the same manner provided for service of process under Rule 4(d)(1)(A). Accordingly, Rule 4(d)(1)(A), provides: (d) Manner of Service. Personal or substituted service shall be made in the following manner: (1) Individuals.Service upon an individual other than an infant, incompetent person, or convict may be made by: (A) Delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to the individual personally; or (B) ... [3] Although the above provisions of the Rules do not expressly refer to the notice and subpoena mentioned in Rule 30(b)(7) concerning depositions, the language employed in Rule 45(b)(1) and 4(d)(1)(A) unquestionably authorizes personal service as a method of serving a subpoena or subpoena duces tecum upon a Rule 30(b)(7) corporate deponent. That conclusion is supported by W.Va. R. Civ. P. 4.1(a) which states, in part: Rule 45 governs the service of subpoenas. As the exhibits in this proceeding suggest, personal service of the subpoena duces tecum could, thus, have been obtained through Progressive's claims office in Charleston or Bridgeport, West Virginia. The question to be determined, however, is whether Progressive is correct in asserting that Rule 45(b)(1) and Rule 4(d)(1)(A) provide the exclusive method of service. The federal counterpart to Rule 45(b)(1) concerning service of a subpoena, unlike the State Rule, does not include a reference to service under Rule 4. See, Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(b)(1). An examination of West Virginia Rule of Civil Procedure 4(d)(1)(A), however, and the remainder of that subsection, reveals that service of a subpoena or subpoena duces tecum upon a corporate deponent through the Secretary of State constitutes an additional option under the Rules. As set forth above, Rule 4(d) begins with the mandatory provision that personal service shall be made in the following manner. The language thereunder, (1)(A), states that service upon an individual may be made by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to the individual personally; or [.] It follows, therefore, that the appearance of the word may and the disjunctive word or in that subsection mitigate against Rule 4(d)(1)(A) as the exclusive method of service. Below subsection (A) are subsections (B) through (E), also in the disjunctive. Rule 4(d)(1)(C) provides that service upon an individual may be made by: (C) Delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to an agent or attorney-in-fact authorized by appointment or statute to receive or accept service of the summons and complaint in the individual's behalf[.]. In addition to Rule 4(d)(1)(C), other portions of Rule 4(d) provide for service upon a corporation. Domestic private corporations are addressed in Rule 4(d)(5), foreign corporations qualified to do business in this State are addressed in Rule 4(d)(7) and foreign corporations not qualified to do business in this State are addressed in Rule 4(d)(8). All three of those subdivisions provide the option of service by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to any agent or attorney-in-fact authorized by appointment or by statute to receive or accept service in its behalf. In summary, although Rule 45(b)(1) concerning the service of a subpoena refers to Rule 4(d)(1)(A), the latter provision cannot constitute the exclusive manner of service upon a corporation, in view of the permissive and disjunctive language in that provision and in view of the numerous other references in Rule 4(d) to service through an agent or attorney-in-fact authorized by appointment or by statute to receive or accept service. Thus, this Court holds that in addition to the provisions set forth in Rule 45(b)(1) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure concerning the service of a subpoena upon a person in the manner provided for service of process under W.Va. R. Civ. P. 4(d)(1)(A), a subpoena or a subpoena duces tecum for a deposition under W.Va. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(7) may be served upon a domestic or foreign corporation through the corporation's agent or attorney-in-fact authorized by appointment or by statute to receive or accept service upon the corporation's behalf. This result finds support in the history of Rule 45 and Rule 4. The original version of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by this Court took effect on July 1, 1960. See, W.Va. R. Civ. P. 86(a) and Arlan's Dept. Store of Huntington v. Conaty, 162 W.Va. 893, 896, 253 S.E.2d 522, 525 (1979). Rule 45 concerning subpoenas then, as now, referred to Rule 4(d)(1)(A) as to manner of service. The Reporters' Original Note to the 1960 version of Rule 4(d)(1) states: Rule (d)(1) is intended to simplify and rewrite Code 56-2-1. Lugar & Silverstein, West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure pg. 40 (Michie 1960). That statute, W.Va.Code, 56-2-1 (1923), states in its entirety: A notice, no particular mode of serving which is prescribed, may be served by delivering a copy thereof in writing to the party in person; or if he (or she) be not found, by delivering such copy at his (or her) usual place of abode, and giving information of its purport, to his wife (or her husband), or to any other person found there who is a member of his (or her) family and above the age of sixteen years; or if neither his wife (or her husband) nor any such other person be found there, and he (or she) be not found, by leaving such copy posted at the front door of such place of abode. Any sheriff or constable, thereto required, shall serve a notice within his county and make return of the manner and time of service; for a failure so to do he shall forfeit twenty dollars. Such return, or a similar return by any other person who verified it by affidavit, shall be evidence of the manner and time of service. (emphasis added) Without doubt, the 1960 version of Rule 4(d)(1) rewrote the statute, especially by adding disjunctive subsections (A) and (B). At that time, Rule 4(d)(1) provided that personal service would be made upon an individual (A) by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to him personally ... or (B) by delivering a copy of the summons and of the complaint to an agent or attorney in fact authorized by appointment or by statute to receive or accept service of process in his behalf. The 1960 version of Rule 4, in subsections (d)(5), (7) and (8), also provided for service through a statutory attorney-in-fact with regard to domestic private corporations, foreign corporations qualified to do business in this State and foreign corporations not qualified to do business in this State. Accordingly, this Court holds that Progressive was properly served through the West Virginia Secretary of State with the subpoena duces tecum requiring Progressive to designate a witness, or witnesses, to testify and produce documents at the scheduled Rule 30(b)(7) deposition. Progressive does not contend that it failed to receive the subpoena through the Secretary of State and Progressive's registered agent, C.T. Corporation System. Relief in prohibition is, therefore, denied in that regard. B.