These guidelines are intended to address routine subpoenas and will not necessarily apply in all cases.

Service of subpoenas

The Vanguard Group, Inc. ("Vanguard") requires that service of process be made in full compliance with applicable law. Vanguard does not accept service of process made by email or by fax. Legal process requests must be issued to the appropriate Vanguard entity, such as "The Vanguard Group, Inc."

Vanguard recommends that service be made upon the designated registered agent for service of process, which may be confirmed through your secretary of state’s office.  Using a registered agent will provide you with added date tracking information and allow for a smoother workflow for your request.

If your jurisdiction permits service of process via mail, the subpoena may be mailed to the following address:

The Vanguard Group, Inc.
Attn: Office of the General Counsel - M35
100 Vanguard Boulevard
Malvern, PA 19355

Please be advised that Vanguard will not provide legal advice in connection with service of subpoenas.

Information requirements

The subpoena must be issued to the appropriate Vanguard entity, such as "The Vanguard Group, Inc."

In addition, the following information is necessary for Vanguard to fulfill a subpoena request:

• Detailed description of materials requested and a specific date range for which they are needed.
• Recipient's email address, as production is typically sent electronically.
• Recipient's physical return address.

In addition, at least three of the following identifiers are necessary for Vanguard to fulfill a subpoena request:

• Full name of person(s) (including middle initial, generational designation, and other suffix/prefix) or entity.
• Full social security number, employer identification number, and/or taxpayer identification number.
• Date of birth.
• Full account number.
• Current address.

If a subpoena does not include enough personal identifying information, it may be rejected.

Materials requested and applicable date range

Subpoenas should clearly identify the documents and/or records requested. Subpoenas with vague or overly broad requests (e.g., “any and all”) may result in limited responses. Further, Vanguard will produce materials responsive to a subpoena, to the extent available, within its possession, custody, or control, for the past seven-year period as of the date we receive the subpoena.

Reasonable period of time for a response

Vanguard makes reasonable efforts to respond within 30-45 days to subpoenas that are validly issued and served in full compliance with applicable law. Subpoenas involving complex litigation matters may require a longer response period.

Fees charged

You can expect to receive an invoice at the conclusion of our work that is payable within 30 days (unless otherwise exempted under law). Here is the scale of fees that this invoice may include:

The fees charged for responding to a subpoena in a complex litigation matter likely will exceed the rates listed above.

Secure production of materials

Productions or a link to a secure file sharing platform will be sent to the requestor's email address via secure email.

Please note, these productions or notifications of a link may be misdirected to spam folders rather than your inbox. Please be sure to check all possible locations before reaching out to us.

Contact information

Additional information related to a pending subpoena, including any relevant court-filed documents, may be provided by email to Subpoena_Response@vanguard.com.

Please note that status inquiries are discouraged. All subpoenas are responded to on a first-in-first-out workflow.