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Graff & McGovern Attorney Douglas Graff has been defending Ohio licensees for over twenty-five years.  He has seen it all as they say.  At least he thought he had.

A nurse client came to Attorney Graff with a subpoena she received, ordering her to appear and testify at a Board of Nursing hearing.  She was not the respondent in the case.  For several reasons, Attorney Graff decided it was not in the nurse’s best interest to testify.

It was the respondent’s subpoena, and not the State of Ohio’s, which ordered the nurse to appear and testify.  Attorney Graff spoke with the respondent’s attorney, who was adamant the nurse appear, and Attorney Graff told him “No.”

The other attorney immediately demanded the Board of Nursing enforce the subpoena, and compel the nurse to testify.  Unlike other cases Graff & McGovern Attorneys have  participated in, the Board of Nursing took this matter to Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, seeking an order to compel the nurse to testify.

Graff & McGovern has not seen any state agency enforce a subpoena upon the request of Respondent’s counsel.  However, Attorney Graff was prepared for this move and is working to defend our client’s best interest by contesting enforcement of the subpoena, because testifying is not in the nurse’s best interest.

If you receive a subpoena from a state agency, for either documents or your testimony, you may not have to comply.  It does not matter if you are the respondent in a case or a witness.  You need to contact an attorney at Graff & McGovern to learn your rights.  You can email Doug at doug@grafflaw.com, or call him at 614-228-5800, extension 1.