Your business is in a contract dispute pending in another state, and a key witness, such as a former partner or a supplier’s manager, works in Massachusetts. The court hearing your case may lack the power to compel that person to testify, and the witness may have no reason to cooperate.
Understanding the tool that bridges that gap may help you plan before a deadline puts pressure on the case.
A letter rogatory is one court’s request for another court’s help
A letter rogatory is a written request from a judge in one court to a court elsewhere, seeking aid in getting testimony or evidence from a witness there. It does not decide your case. It asks the other court to help with a specific step, such as taking a witness’s deposition or compelling the production of corporate documents.
Your business may need one when a witness lives in Massachusetts
If your case is pending in another state and a witness or company with key information sits in Massachusetts, the judge handling your case may issue a letter rogatory so a Massachusetts court can take the next step. A former employee, a supplier or a business partner could all fit that description.
Massachusetts courts may order a local witness to testify
Under Massachusetts law, a court may order someone found or domiciled within the state to testify or produce evidence for a case pending outside the state, whether an interested person asks or a letter rogatory arrives from the other court.
The order may follow the other court’s procedure, and a person the court appoints may take the testimony. Where the order does not say otherwise, Massachusetts procedure applies.
Local counsel can move the request through the process
Massachusetts counsel may open the needed court case, file the required papers, and ask for an order that lets local counsel or court-authorized attorneys issue an enforceable subpoena to depose the witness or obtain records.
Someone who knows the local court may help keep your dispute on schedule. A Massachusetts business litigation attorney may help you decide whether this route fits your case.
