The Defense Wants Your Doctor’s Records. Florida’s Nonparty Subpoena Rule Is Changing.

You file a Florida injury lawsuit after a serious crash. Months later, your lawyer receives a notice saying the defense intends to subpoena records directly from a doctor who treated you years before the collision. The subpoena may ask for charts, imaging, billing, prior complaints, or other material that could be compared with the injuries now at issue.

That notice is not just paperwork. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.351 controls how parties obtain documents from nonparties without taking a deposition, and the Florida Supreme Court adopted important amendments on October 1, 2026. The changes become effective January 1, 2027, at 12:01 a.m.

For a personal injury plaintiff, the practical point is straightforward: nonparty record subpoenas can reach some of the most important evidence in the case, but the process includes notice, an opportunity to object, and a mechanism for resolving disputes before production. Beginning in 2027, objections will also have to state their grounds with greater specificity.

Why nonparty subpoenas matter in an injury case

A personal injury lawsuit often depends on records held by people and companies that are not parties to the case. Medical providers may have treatment notes and imaging. Former employers may have wage or attendance records. Pharmacies may have prescription histories. Repair shops, towing companies, businesses, or other custodians may possess records relevant to liability or damages.

Florida Rule 1.351 exists so those records can be obtained by subpoena without requiring a records custodian to sit for a deposition merely to authenticate or hand over documents. The current rule describes that procedure as the exclusive method for subpoenaing documents or things from a nonparty without deposing the custodian.

That discovery can be legitimate and important. If a plaintiff claims that a collision caused a cervical injury, for example, earlier records concerning the same body part may bear on causation. At the same time, filing a Florida personal injury claim does not automatically make every medical record from every provider over an unlimited time period fair game. Florida’s discovery rules generally limit discovery to nonprivileged matter that is relevant to a claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case.

The subpoena does not ordinarily go straight to the nonparty

One feature of Rule 1.351 is easy to miss: another party generally receives notice of the proposed subpoena before the subpoena is issued to the nonparty.

Under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure currently published by The Florida Bar, a party seeking nonparty production must give the other parties advance notice of the intent to serve the subpoena. The rule generally requires 10 days after delivery or e-mail service of the notice, or 15 days after U.S. mail service, before the subpoena may issue. If the notice is served with original process, the rule uses a 45-day period measured from service on the last-served party.

The proposed subpoena must be attached to the notice. That matters because counsel can see what records are being requested before the nonparty is asked to produce them.

In a Florida car accident case, that review may reveal a narrow request for records concerning the same injured body part—or a much broader request reaching years of unrelated care. The wording, dates, provider, and categories of documents can determine whether there is a meaningful discovery issue.

What happens if someone objects under the current rule?

If a party timely objects during the notice period, the documents cannot be produced while the objection remains unresolved. The party seeking the records may ask the court to rule on the objection or use the deposition procedure permitted by the rules.

The nonparty receiving the subpoena also has a right to object before production. Under the current rule, that objection stops production under Rule 1.351 and forces the requesting party to pursue the appropriate next step.

This is one reason clients should send subpoena notices and discovery papers to their attorney promptly. The important date is not necessarily the date when records eventually arrive. The opportunity to raise an objection may arise earlier, when the notice of intent is served.

Florida’s January 2027 amendment makes objections more specific

In its October 1, 2026 decision, In re Amendments to Florida Rules of Civil Procedure 1.310 and 1.351, the Florida Supreme Court adopted a new subdivision 1.351(b)(6). Effective January 1, 2027, an objection to production must state the grounds for the objection with specificity, including the reasons supporting it.

That change should discourage vague objections that simply say a subpoena is “overbroad” or “improper” without explaining why. A meaningful objection will need to identify the actual problem with the requested production. Depending on the records and the circumstances, the dispute might concern relevance, proportionality, privilege, privacy interests, an overbroad time period, or another case-specific ground.

The amendment does not mean every objection must automatically be filed with the court. The Supreme Court expressly declined a committee proposal that would have required all Rule 1.351 objections to be court-filed. The dispute reaches the judge when judicial relief is actually sought.

A nonparty objection will also have a clearer path to resolution

The Court also revised Rule 1.351(c)(7). Beginning January 1, when the subpoena recipient objects before production, the rule will state more directly that the documents may not be produced until the objection is resolved under subdivision (d) or by agreement.

Subdivision (d) allows the party seeking production to move for a ruling on the objection. The amended rule also preserves the option, where appropriate, to seek the material through a deposition under Rule 1.310 while complying with the document-production requirements of Rule 1.350.

That clarification matters because an objection is not necessarily the end of discovery. It pauses the disputed production and creates a process for deciding what should happen next. The parties may narrow the request by agreement, or the court may decide the issue.

Medical records illustrate why the details matter

Medical records are often central to an injury lawsuit because they help establish diagnosis, causation, treatment, prognosis, and whether a claimed condition existed before the incident. Tucker Law has previously discussed the role medical records can play in a car accident case.

But a medical-record subpoena can contain very different requests. One might seek MRI films and treatment notes from a spine specialist who treated the plaintiff for the same neck condition shortly before the collision. Another might seek decades of records from providers whose care appears unrelated to the claimed injuries. Those subpoenas raise different questions even though both are labeled requests for “medical records.”

The same distinction applies to employment records. If lost wages are claimed, payroll and attendance records may be directly relevant. A request for an entire personnel file may raise additional issues. What matters is the actual scope of the claim, the defenses, and the requested material—not simply the fact that a subpoena was issued.

A records subpoena is part of discovery, not proof that the defense is right

Receiving a subpoena notice can feel intrusive, especially when it concerns treatment that occurred before the accident. It helps to separate discovery from the ultimate merits of the case.

The fact that the defense is permitted to seek relevant prior records does not establish that a current injury was preexisting, unrelated, or minor. The records may show a prior condition, but they may also document that the plaintiff was stable before the new incident, had different symptoms, or needed substantially different treatment afterward.

Discovery is the process of gathering information. The parties may later disagree about what that information proves and what is admissible at trial. A personal injury deposition serves a different discovery function: it gathers sworn testimony rather than simply obtaining documents from a nonparty.

What should an injured person do when a subpoena notice arrives?

The most useful response is usually not to call the doctor and tell the office to ignore the subpoena. Instead, send the notice to counsel immediately and preserve the entire document, including the proposed subpoena and the service information. Your lawyer can evaluate the requested provider, date range, categories of records, relationship to the claimed injuries, and applicable deadline.

Clients should also be candid with counsel about prior treatment. An old MRI, surgery, work injury, or similar complaint is far easier to address when the legal team knows about it before the defense records arrive. Prior medical history does not automatically defeat a claim, but surprises can make causation disputes harder to manage.

For a broader explanation of how discovery, medical evidence, damages, and insurance issues fit together, Tucker Law’s Personal Injury Information Center provides additional resources.

The January 1 change is procedural, but the practical effect is real

The new amendment does not radically expand or eliminate nonparty discovery. It makes the objection process clearer. Starting January 1, 2027, objections must identify their grounds and reasons with specificity, and the amended rule more clearly describes what happens when the nonparty itself objects.

For injury cases, that means lawyers on both sides should pay closer attention to the wording of objections and to how disputed subpoenas are resolved. For clients, it reinforces a simpler point: notices involving doctors, employers, pharmacies, and other record custodians can carry real deadlines and should not sit unopened.

If you have been injured in Florida and have questions about the records being requested in your case, contact Tucker Law. We can evaluate the discovery request in the context of the injuries, prior medical history, damages, and defenses actually at issue.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Discovery disputes depend on the claims, defenses, requested records, privileges, privacy interests, court orders, and procedural posture of the particular case.