This article was co-authored by Lahaina Araneta, JD . Lahaina Araneta, Esq. is an Immigration Attorney for Orange County, California with over 6 years of experience. She received her JD from Loyola Law School in 2012. In law school, she participated in the immigrant justice practicum and served as a volunteer with several nonprofit agencies. This article has been viewed 46,871 times.

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A subpoena is a legal command to turn over documents. If you need someone’s phone records as evidence for a lawsuit, you can file a subpoena to access them. You’ll need a valid reason for obtaining the phone records, such as proving a crime. Ask your court clerk for a subpoena form. You’ll need to address it to whoever runs the records department of the person’s phone company and tell them whose records you need and between which dates. If you don’t have a lawyer, ask your judge if they need to sign the form instead. Submit your subpoena to the court and ask your clerk if you need to serve copies to the other parties. For more tips from our Legal co-author, including how to file a motion to compel if the phone company refuses your subpoena, read on!