Using Statewide Bar Directories to Get a Response to Your Subpoena

Nearly every state’s bar association publishes a directory of its members.  Most of those directories are available to the general public online.  Being able to find contact information for attorneys can be useful in a number of ways, but it can be especially useful when attempting to follow up on a subpoena you served on a larger company.

In theory, once you have served a subpoena on a registered agent, the registered agent should notify the entity whose records you are seeking, and those records should be provided in accordance with your subpoena.  In reality, subpoenas often seem to fall into a corporate black hole, especially at larger companies, and you will need to follow up to ensure you get a response.  But who should you call?

I have had a lot of success with reaching out to the legal departments of companies as attorneys obviously understand the importance of complying with subpoenas, but it’s not always easy to find contact information for corporate legal departments.  The state bar directories that include a search field of “company” or “firm” can be used to find the attorneys that work for a given company.  If multiple attorneys are listed, I try to find the least senior attorney in the legal department based on job title or bar admittance dates.

I’ve put together a list of the websites for each state bar and their directories.  Some of the directories require a password, in those instances, I tried to find alternative directories that were available to the general public.  Whenever there is an “advanced search” option available, use it.  That is often where an option to search by company or firm can be found.

Let me know if you run into any problems or have any questions by leaving a comment below or emailing me at blauney@gmail.com.

Happy subpoena hunting!

State	General Site	Member Directory	Login Required
Alabama	https://www.alabar.org/	Alabama Directory	No
Alaska	https://www.alaskabar.org/	Alaska Directory	No
Arizona	http://www.azbar.org/	Arizona Directory	No
Arkansas	http://www.arkbar.com/home	Arkansas Directory	Yes
California	http://www.calbar.ca.gov/	California Directory	No
Colorado	http://www.cobar.org/	Colorado Directory	No
Connecticut	http://www.ctbar.org/	Connecticut Directory	No
Delaware	http://www.dsba.org/	Delaware Directory	?
Florida	http://www.floridabar.org/	Florida Directory	No
Georgia	https://www.gabar.org	Georgia Directory	No
Hawaii	http://hsba.org/	Hawaii Directory	No
Idaho	http://isb.idaho.gov/	Idaho Directory	No
Illinois	http://www.isba.org/	Illinois Directory	Yes
Illinois (Public site)		Illinois Find-A-Lawyer	No
Indiana	http://www.inbar.org/	Indiana Directory	No
Iowa	http://www.iowabar.org/	Iowa Directory	Yes
Iowa (Public site)		Iowa Find-A-Lawyer	No
Kansas	http://www.ksbar.org/	Kansas Directory	No
Kentucky	http://www.kybar.org/	Kentucky Directory	No
Louisiana	https://www.lsba.org	Louisiana Directory	No
Maine	http://www.mainebar.org/	Maine Directory	No
Maryland	http://www.msba.org/	Maryland Directory	No
Massachusetts	http://www.massbar.org/	Massachusetts Directory	No
Michigan	http://www.michbar.org/	Michigan Directory	No
Minnesota	http://www.mnbar.org/	Minnesota Directory	No
Mississippi	http://www.msbar.org/	Mississippi Directory	No
Missouri	http://www.mobar.org/	Missouri Directory	No
Montana	http://www.montanabar.org/	Montana Directory	No
Nebraska	http://www.nebar.com/	Nebraska Directory	No
Nevada	http://www.nvbar.org/	Nevada Directory	No
New Hampshire	https://www.nhbar.org/	New Hampshire Directory	Yes
New Jersey	http://tcms.njsba.com/	New Jersey Directory	No
New Mexico	http://www.nmbar.org/	New Mexico Directory	No
New York	http://www.nysba.org/	New York Directory	No
North Carolina	http://www.ncbar.org/	North Carolina Directory	No
North Dakota	https://www.sband.org/default.aspx	North Dakota Directory	No
Ohio	https://www.ohiobar.org	Ohio Directory	No
Oklahoma	http://www.okbar.org/	Oklahoma Directory	No
Oregon	http://www.osbar.org/index.html	Oregon Directory	No
Pennsylvania	http://www.pabar.org/	Pennsylvania Directory	No
Rhode Island	https://www.ribar.com/default.aspx	Rhode Island Directory	No
South Carolina	http://www.scbar.org/	South Carolina Directory	No
South Dakota	http://statebarofsouthdakota.com/	South Dakota Directory	No
Tennessee	http://www.tba.org/	Tennessee Directory	No
Texas	https://www.texasbar.com/	Texas Directory	No
Utah	http://www.utahbar.org/	Utah Directory	No
Vermont	https://www.vtbar.org/	Vermont Directory	No
Virginia	http://www.vsb.org/	Virginia Directory	No
Washington	http://www.wsba.org/	Washington Directory	No
West Virginia	http://www.wvbar.org/	West Virginia Directory	No
Wisconsin	http://www.wisbar.org/	Wisconsin Directory	No
Wyoming	https://www.wyomingbar.org/	Wyoming Directory	No