> Markdown copy of https://www.safarisop.com/resources/doc-recovery_index.html for AI agents.
> Index of every page on this site: https://www.safarisop.com/llms.txt

##### COST RECOVERY

# The 2026 Safari Subpoena Cost Recovery Index

### The Industry Standard for Measuring Subpoena Cost Recovery Across the U.S.

The 2026 Safari Subpoena Cost Recovery Index is a benchmark of what companies recover when they respond to third-party subpoenas, built from five years of data collection and research. It covers routine requests such as bank statements, employee records, and video footage. Healthcare records are excluded.

## Key points

-   The best practice is request-based pricing: set the fee from the number of accounts to be searched, the type of records, and the technical effort to pull the data. Tracking every minute usually costs more than the invoice, and charging by the page rarely covers the true cost of searching electronic databases.
-   One regional bank reviewed its fully-burdened response costs and set standard fees of $80 (simple), $150 (standard), and $250 (complex).
-   Average amounts recovered by region range from $109.18 in the Midwest to $134.03 in the West. The Index concludes that regional variation is a non-factor.
-   For routine requests, average recovery per response ranges from $25 at the low end to $250 at the high end. For large document productions, it ranges from $500 to $6,000.
-   Organizations that do not scale their fees for high-volume requests leave up to one-third of their potential reimbursement on the table.

## Common questions

### How can companies recover the costs of responding to subpoenas?

Use a standard fee schedule based on the type of work, publish it on a "Legal Orders" or "Subpoena Compliance" page, and send an acknowledgment letter as soon as a subpoena arrives so the requester is informed of your fees. The Index also recommends having requesters confirm they will pay before you start the work. In ServePort, the company sets its cost recovery options, the system creates the invoice, and the issuer pays by credit card at an online paywall before downloading the response files. With consistent invoicing through Safari SOP, Logix Credit Union's average recovery increased by 50%. Using Safari SOP, Mountain America Credit Union increased its average cost recovery per subpoena request by 3X.

### Do companies charge fees for responding to subpoenas?

The Index describes cost recovery as reimbursement of the resources a company spends complying with third-party requests, and reports that paying for subpoena responses is now the expected norm, with pushback from requesters extremely rare. A few states, such as California and Arizona, cap what can be charged for labor or administrative tasks. The Index recommends grouping those states and giving them their own fee schedule at the maximum allowed rate. Many companies also set exemptions, for example for law enforcement, or keep a record of allowable or reduced fees for agencies such as the IRS or state governments.

### Should cost recovery include government agency requests?

The data shows growth in reimbursement across all types of issuers, including government entities and regulatory bodies. Government agencies typically send the largest volume of requests for most companies, so overlooking agency requests leaves a substantial portion of potential recovery on the table. Some companies still exempt law enforcement or keep reduced fees for agencies.

### Does a state cap like California's stop cost recovery?

No, according to the Index's California case study. California Evidence Code 1563(b)(1) sets a maximum clerical rate of $24 per hour per person. The client in the case study arrived at $90 per response (a $12 flat system cost, a 2-hour minimum of prep at the $24 cap, and a $30 flat fee for review, QA, and delivery), plus any additional legal review or redaction time at fully loaded employee hourly rates. The Index found the cap did not have a material impact on recovering at a level similar to other states.

#### NEXT STEPS

-   Schedule a conversation with a Safari workflow specialist or live demo of the system over Zoom: [SafariSOP.com/demo](https://www.safarisop.com/demo/)
-   Contact Safari Sales at [sales@safariSOP.com](mailto:sales@safarisop.com) or [425.298.3620](tel:4252983620)
-   View more resources in the [Safari Watering Hole](https://www.safarisop.com/resources/)

#### RELATED RESOURCES

-   [Getting Started with Subpoena Reimbursement](https://www.safarisop.com/resources/web-reimbursement.html)
-   [Subpoena Response Costs: How to Get Reimbursed](https://www.safarisop.com/resources/web-response_costs.html)
-   [Subpoena Cost Recovery Index: Survey Results](https://www.safarisop.com/resources/web-recovery_index.html)