Were you recently notified by your ISP or blogging platform that you have been sued for copyright infringement for your online activity? Were you informed that your ISP would be providing your identity to the lawyers for the person or entity that has sued you shortly (usually within 30 days) unless you took action to stop this from happening by filing a motion to quash or to dismiss the case? If so, this page is to help you find counsel to assist you in sorting out your options.

Attorneys who are interested in joining this list should contact info@eff.org with the subject line "Subpoena Defense Attorney Addition."

Please note that we do not screen or evaluate the attorneys on the Subpoena Defense Resources list. Each person contacting a lawyer from the list should make their own independent evaluation of whether the referred attorney is the right one for the particular case. In most states you can check with the State Bar website for the current status and record of lawyers in that state, but you should make your own judgment about which attorney is right for you.

What’s going on?

A series of lawsuits have been filed across the U.S. against thousands of individuals accused of having illegally uploaded and downloaded movies in violation of copyright law. Some of these are independent films such as “The Dallas Buyers Club” and some are for pornographic films.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuits have obtained IP addresses they allege are associated with infringement, and have received permission from the court to issue subpoenas to Internet Service Providers ("ISPs") to obtain the name and address of subscribers associated with those IP addresses.

What Should I Do?

If you are a target, you probably have questions about how to proceed and may wish to seek legal counsel. Because individual cases are unique, EFF recommends that defendants contact an attorney who practices regularly in either the state where the lawsuit was filed or their home state for a consultation. Because so many people need legal help, and usually on a very short time frame, the following attorneys have offered to assist those targeted to understand their options. Some of the attorneys listed on this page may be able to represent you in states other than the ones they are listed under. Fees are negotiable on a case by case basis. These attorneys may, if necessary, file a motion to quash or otherwise intervene on behalf of subpoena targets who retain them as counsel. The attorneys on this list are not affiliated with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in any way and by offering their names EFF does not intend to give any individual endorsement of them.

If you wish to move to quash or dismiss, you (or your attorney) must file a motion with the court. Also be aware that contacting the court or the plaintiff's counsel yourself risks publicly exposing your identity, which would make the subpoena moot. Lastly, your ISP will not file for you, and simply sending a copy to your ISP is not enough to protect your identity. If possible, it is usually best to retain counsel to assist.

General Resources

Attorneys offering assistance

Arizona

Jeffrey Antonelli jeffrey@antonelli-law.com

Steve Vondran steve@vondranlegal.com

California

Jeffrey Antonelli jeffrey@antonelli-law.com

Andrew Winghart drew@WinghartLaw.com

Steve Vondran steve@vondranlegal.com

Ryan Long rlong@landapllc.com

Thomas Tidal tvidal@pryorcashman

J. Curtis Edmondson jcedmondson@edmolaw.com

Colorado

Danny J. Simon danny@lslawpl.com

Shirin Chahal shirinchahal@danieltgoodwin.com

Tim DeGeorge tdegeorge@degeorgelaw.com

Kubs Lalchandani kubs@lslawpl.com

Jay Fisher jumpfish@yahoo.com

Connecticut

Charles Mudd cmudd@muddlawoffices.com

Leonard J. French ljfrench@torrentdefense.com

Delaware

Touhey Myer tmyer@crbcp.com

Florida

Danny J. Simon danny@lslawpl.com

Tim DeGeorge tdegeorge@degeorgelaw.com

Kubs Lalchandani kubs@lslawpl.com

Bradford Patrick bap@baplegal.com

William R. Wohlsifer william@wohlsifer.com

Graham Syfert graham@syfert.com

Cynthia Conlin cynthiaconlin@cynthiaconlin.com

James Slater jslater@shullmanfugate.com

Georgia

Graham Syfert graham@syfert.com

Joshua Davis joshua@lexalchemy.com

Idaho

John Chandler john@chandlerip.com

Illinois

Jonathan LA Phillips jphillips@shay-law.com

Jeffrey Antonelli jeffrey@antonelli-law.com

Charles Mudd cmudd@muddlawoffices.com

William J. Mills billy@firmequity.com

Erin Russell erin@russellfirmchicago.com

Daliah Saper ds@saperlaw.com

Scott Kane kanecommunitylaw@gmail.com

Adam W. Sikich asikich@dunnerlaw.com

Brian A. Rosenblatt brosenblatt@bdlfirm.com

Susan Malter susanmalter@gmail.com

Indiana

Paul Overhauser poverhauser@overhauser.com

Kentucky

E. Seth Combs seth@sethcombs.net

Louisiana

Ryan Goudelocke ryan@dmsfirm.com

Maryland

David A. Burkhouse dburkhouse@pklaw.com

Massachusetts

Edward Molari edward@molarilaw.com

Neville Bedford nevillebedford@gmail.com

Michael Lambert mlambert@princelobel.com

Stephen Smith sasmith@me.com

Michigan

Erin Russell erin@russellfirmchicago.com

John T. Hermann hermannlawoffices@comcast.net

David Szostek dave@edwardallenlaw.com

Minnesota

Paul Godfread paul@godfreadlaw.com

New Jersey

Jeffrey Antonelli jeffrey@antonelli-law.com

Leonard J. French ljfrench@torrentdefense.com

Leslie A. Farber lfarber@lfarberlaw.com

Adam Rosenblum adam@rosenblumlawfirm.com

Maurice N. Ross mross@bartonesq.com

David D. Lin david@iLawco.com

Flann Lippincott flann@lippincottip.com

Luc Ulmet luc.ulmet@ulmetlaw.com

Jonathan Askin jonathan.askin@brooklaw.edu

Touhey Myer tmyer@crbcp.com

New York

Jonathan LA Phillips jphillips@shay-law.com

Jeffrey Antonelli jeffrey@antonelli-law.com

Tim DeGeorge tdegeorge@degeorgelaw.com

Kubs Lalchandani kubs@lslawpl.com

Erin Russell erin@russellfirmchicago.com

Leonard J. French ljfrench@torrentdefense.com

Leslie A. Farber lfarber@lfarberlaw.com

Adam Rosenblum adam@rosenblumlawfirm.com

Maurice N. Ross mross@bartonesq.com

David D. Lin david@iLawco.com

Luc Ulmet luc.ulmet@ulmetlaw.com

Jonathan Askin jonathan.askin@brooklaw.edu

Robert Cashman rzcashman@cashmanlawfirm.com

Ray Beckerman ray@beckermanlegal.com

Joseph Martin Carasso joe@jcarassoattorney.com

Ryan Long rlong@landapllc.com

Thomas Tidal tvidal@pryorcashman.com

Cassidy Grunninger cgrunninger@dunnerlaw.com

Oregon

Lake Perriguey lake@law-works.com

Michael O. Stevens michael@hillsborofirm.com

J. Curtis Edmondson jcedmondson@edmolaw.com

Pennsylvania

Leonard J. French ljfrench@torrentdefense.com

Leslie A. Farber lfarber@lfarberlaw.com

Touhey Myer tmyer@crbcp.com

Rhode Island

Neville Bedford nevillebedford@gmail.com

Stephen Smith sasmith@me.com

Texas

Jonathan LA Phillips jphillips@shay-law.com

Charles Mudd cmudd@muddlawoffices.com

Robert Cashman rzcashman@cashmanlawfirm.com

Warren V. Norred wnorred@norredlaw.com

Tristan C. Robinson tristan@tcrobinsonlaw.com

Utah

Charles Mudd cmudd@muddlawoffices.com

Christina Saunders christina@nouveaulaw.com

LaShel Shaw lshaw@parrbrown.com

Virginia

Robert Powers rpowers@mcplegal.com

Washington

Danny J. Simon danny@lslawpl.com

Rick McLeod law@rickmcleod.com

Katrina Brede katrina@povlegal.com

J. Curtis Edmondson jcedmondson@edmolaw.com

Washington D.C.