How do you file a “motion to quash” or a “motion vacate”? in Seattle or in general?
I live in Seattle in an Oxford house (addiction recovery house) with nine other people with lots of turn-over (10-13 per yr.). We are legally filed as a non-profit organization in the name of the “____ Oxford house”
We have a business account to which all bills are sent to _____ Oxford house, not individuals. Our rents are a bundled packaged with all utilities included. The house’s Comcast account has a single IP address that is shared by all individuals. Our internet provider, Comcast, has been served a “John Doe subpoena” demanding that they turn over info on all accounts that were served under this umbrella for illegally down/up loading certain movies.
Comcast sent us a letter saying that they must turn over all info on individual accounts unless we file for a motion to quash or a motion to vacate or a motion for continuance. What I need to know is:
what is the difference between quash and vacate?
where do you get the necessary paper work?
Is it something I can do myself or should I get a lawyer?
Here is some local legal help you can use from the King County Bar Assn website: http://www.kcba.org/legalhelp/ . They hold free legal clinics at local libraries.
In general, in my state, which is not Washington and may have entirely different rules/laws/procedures/definitions, a motion to quash is usually filed in response to a subpoena or a discovery request–like a deposition. You are asking the Court to say you do not have to comply with the subpoena, and you’re going to have to give the court a legal reason why you should not be required to comply.
A motion to vacate is typically filed in response to an order or judgment, asking the Court to say you are not bound by the order or judgment, again because of a legal justification.
A motion to continue is asking the court to delay a hearing until a later time, for some reason.
As a pro se litigant, in my state, you can file pretty much anything you want. Typed, handwritten, scrawled in crayon on a napkin, whatever. You write out a document listing the Court you’re filing in, the names of the parties, the cause number, a title of some sort, and one or more sentences or paragraphs stating who you are, what you want the court to do, and to whom you want it done. You take that to the clerks office, with copies, ask them to file the original and stamp the copies filed. Then you send one of the copies to all of the other parties involved in the case.
You may be able to find sample forms on websites for your state courts, bar association, or LSC funded legal services provider.
Realistically, your best move here is probably to obtain counsel if at all possible.