Except for the parties to the arbitration and their agents, officers and employees, all witnesses appearing pursuant to subpoena are entitled to receive fees and mileage in the same amount and under the same circumstances as prescribed by law for witnesses in civil actions in the superior court. The fee and mileage of a witness subpoenaed upon the application of a party to the arbitration shall be paid by such party. The fee and mileage of a witness subpoenaed soley upon the determination of the neutral arbitrator shall be paid in the manner provided for the payment of the neutral arbitrator's expenses.
§ 1283.2.Witness Fees and Mileage
Title 9. Arbitration · Chapter 3. Conduct of Arbitration Proceedings · Enacted 1961 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1283.2 entitles witnesses appearing under subpoena in arbitration -- other than the parties and their agents, officers, and employees -- to the same fees and mileage as civil-action witnesses in superior court, paid by the party who subpoenaed them or, if the arbitrator issued the subpoena, handled the same way as the arbitrator's own expenses.
Full Text of § 1283.2
Plain-English Summary
Witnesses who show up under subpoena for an arbitration are entitled to the same fees and mileage a witness in a superior court civil action would receive. That entitlement has one built-in limit: it does not extend to the parties themselves or to their own agents, officers, and employees, since they are already interested participants rather than outside witnesses being compensated for their time.
Who pays depends on who asked for the subpoena. If a party requested it, that party pays the witness's fee and mileage. If the neutral arbitrator issued the subpoena on their own initiative rather than at a party's request, the fee and mileage are paid the same way the arbitrator's own expenses are paid -- typically shared under the pro rata cost-sharing arrangement in Section 1284.2.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the parties themselves get witness fees when subpoenaed?
No -- the entitlement excludes the parties and their agents, officers, and employees.
Who pays a witness's fee and mileage in arbitration?
The party who subpoenaed the witness, unless the arbitrator issued the subpoena on its own initiative, in which case it is handled like the arbitrator's own expenses.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1961, Ch. 461.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: witness fees arbitration californiamileage fees arbitration subpoena