In United States v. Afremov, et. al., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110102, Aug. 14, 2008, U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Nelson granted movant Computer Forensic Services' motion to quash subpoenas and ordered defendant to pay more than $625,000 in costs associated with complying with the subpoena.

Defendant served subpoenas on Computer Forensic Services ("CFS") requesting all documents, including electronically stored information, obtained from certain third party companies in a related civil case.  Defendant's counsel agreed to pay the cost of the production which totaled nearly $650,000.  When defendant's counsel received the bill, he refused to pay the cost arguing that the vendor should be considered a fact witness and defendant should only be responsible for a statutory witness fee and incidental costs.  The court disagreed finding that defendant's lawyer knew that CFS was providing expert services and further offered to pay for such services. 

The court found the costs were reasonable in light of the work performed and the fact that defendant's counsel was familiar with CFS's services.  The court also rejected defendant's counsel's argument that CFS's motion to quash was untimely.  The court ruled that CFS's motion was timely given the fact that defendant's counsel agreed in advance to pay for the work and CFS's motion was filed after he subsequently reneged on his promise to pay.