(a) Except as specified in subdivision (c), in making an order pursuant to motion made under subdivision (c) of Section 1987 or under Section 1987.1, the court may in its discretion award the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred in making or opposing the motion, including reasonable attorney's fees, if the court finds the motion was made or opposed in bad faith or without substantial justification or that one or more of the requirements of the subpoena was oppressive.
§ 1987.2.2
Title 3. Of the Production of Evidence · Chapter 2. Means of Production · Last amended 2012 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1987.2 lets a court award reasonable expenses and attorney's fees on a motion to quash, modify, or enforce a subpoena when the motion was made or opposed in bad faith or without substantial justification or the subpoena was oppressive, shields good-faith electronic data loss from sanctions, and mandates fee-shifting in a specific out-of-state internet subpoena scenario.
Full Text of § 1987.2
(b) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), absent exceptional circumstances, the court shall not impose sanctions on a subpoenaed person or the attorney of a subpoenaed person for failure to provide electronically stored information that has been lost, damaged, altered, or overwritten as the result of the routine, good faith operation of an electronic information system.
(2) This subdivision shall not be construed to alter any obligation to preserve discoverable information.
(c) If a motion is filed under Section 1987.1 for an order to quash or modify a subpoena from a court of this state for personally identifying information, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1798.79.8 of the Civil Code, for use in an action pending in another state, territory, or district of the United States, or in a foreign nation, and that subpoena has been served on any Internet service provider, or on the provider of any other interactive computer service, as defined in Section 230(f)(2) of Title 47 of the United States Code, if the moving party prevails, and if the underlying action arises from the moving party's exercise of free speech rights on the Internet and the respondent has failed to make a prima facie showing of a cause of action, the court shall award the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred in making the motion, including reasonable attorney's fees.
Plain-English Summary
Subpoena fights over compliance or a motion to quash can be run in good faith or as a tactic, and this section gives courts a tool to discourage the latter. On a motion made under the party/agent notice procedure in Section 1987 or under the quash-and-modify procedure in Section 1987.1, the court can, in its discretion, award reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, if it finds the motion was made or opposed in bad faith or without substantial justification, or that some requirement of the subpoena was oppressive.
That discretion has a limit built in: absent exceptional circumstances, a court will not sanction a subpoenaed person or that person's attorney for electronically stored information that was lost, damaged, altered, or overwritten through the routine, good-faith operation of an electronic system, though this does not excuse anyone from an existing duty to preserve discoverable information.
The section closes with a mandatory rule for a specific scenario: a motion under Section 1987.1 to quash or modify a California subpoena seeking someone's personally identifying information for use in an out-of-state or foreign case, served on an internet service provider or similar interactive computer service, where the underlying case arises from the moving party's online free-speech activity and the other side cannot make a prima facie showing of a valid claim. If the moving party wins that motion, the court must award reasonable expenses and attorney's fees, not merely as a matter of discretion.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can a court award fees on a motion to quash or enforce a subpoena?
When the court finds the motion was made or opposed in bad faith or without substantial justification, or that a requirement of the subpoena was oppressive.
Is a subpoenaed person automatically sanctioned for lost electronic data?
No, absent exceptional circumstances, sanctions are unavailable for data lost, damaged, altered, or overwritten through the routine, good-faith operation of an electronic system.
When is a fee award mandatory rather than discretionary under this section?
When the moving party prevails on a motion to quash a subpoena for personally identifying information sought for an out-of-state case, served on an internet service provider, in a case arising from the moving party's online free speech and where the opponent cannot show a prima facie claim.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.1976, c. 1168, p. 5249, § 2. Amended by Stats.2008, c. 742 (A.B.2433), § 2; Stats.2012, c. 72 (S.B.1574), § 7.)
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the West's Annotated California Codes / Thomson Reuters. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: attorney fees motion to quash subpoena californiasanctions for oppressive subpoenaanti-slapp internet subpoena fee award