Steptoe Team Invalidates Extraterritorial Subpoenas in Phoenix

A multi-office team of Steve Wheeless, Stacey Gottlieb, Frank Burke and Karl Tilleman in Phoenix, Chuck Cole and Alice Loughran in Washington, and Sandra Cavazos in New York achieved a significant victory for a major financial services and communications company in Phoenix when Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields invalidated several extraterritorial subpoenas issued by the Arizona Attorney General to the client.

The subpoenas sought production of information regarding millions of money-transfer transactions in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Sonora, Mexico. The Court ruled that the subpoenas were unreasonable and invalid on several statutory grounds in part because they had no connection to an investigation of criminal activity in Arizona. The ruling was picked up by the Associated Press and received nationwide coverage.