I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1806

To authorize appropriations for the Legal Services Corporation Act and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 8, 1995

Mr. MCCOLLUM (for himself and Mr. STENHOLM) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for the Legal Services

Corporation Act and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; REF4 ERENCE.

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

6 ‘‘Legal Services Reform Act of 1995’’.

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is

8 as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; reference.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 4. Prohibition on redistricting activity.

Sec. 5. Protection against theft and fraud.
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Sec. 6. Solicitation.

Sec. 7. Procedural safeguards for litigation.

Sec. 8. Lobbying and rulemaking.

Sec. 9. Timekeeping.

Sec. 10. Authority of local governing boards.

Sec. 11. Regulation of nonpublic resources.

Sec. 12. Certain eviction proceedings.

Sec. 13. Implementation of competition.

Sec. 14. Research and attorneys’ fees.

Sec. 15. Abortion.

Sec. 16. Class actions.

Sec. 17. Aliens.

Sec. 18. Training.

Sec. 19. Copayments.

Sec. 20. Fee-generating cases.

Sec. 21. Welfare reform.

Sec. 22. Prisoner litigation.

Sec. 23. Appointment of Corporation president.

Sec. 24. Evasion.

Sec. 25. Pay for officers and employees of the Corporation.

Sec. 26. Location of principal office.

Sec. 27. Definition.

1 (c) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend2 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment

3 to or repeal of a section or other provision, the reference

4 shall be considered to be made to section or other provi5 sion of the Legal Services Corporation Act (42 U.S.C.

6 2996 and following).

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 Section 1001 (42 U.S.C. 2996) is amended to read

9 as follows:

10 ‘‘FINDINGS

11 ‘‘SEC. 1001. The Congress finds the following:

12 ‘‘(1) There is a need to encourage equal access

13 to the system of justice in the United States for in14 dividuals seeking redress of grievances.
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1 ‘‘(2) There is a need to encourage the provision

2 of high quality legal assistance for those who would

3 otherwise be unable to afford legal counsel.

4 ‘‘(3) Encouraging the provision of legal assist5 ance to those who face an economic barrier to legal

6 counsel will serve the ends of justice consistent with

7 the purposes of the Legal Services Corporation Act.

8 ‘‘(4) It is not the purpose of the Legal Services

9 Corporation Act to meet all the legal needs of all po10 tentially eligible clients, but instead to be a catalyst

11 to encourage the legal profession and others to meet

12 their responsibilities to the poor and to maximize ac13 cess of the poor to justice.

14 ‘‘(5) For many citizens the availability of legal

15 services has reaffirmed faith in our government of

16 laws.

17 ‘‘(6) To preserve its strength, the legal services

18 program must be made completely free from the in19 fluence of political pressures and completely free of

20 lobbying and political activity.

21 ‘‘(7) There are over 2,000 non-profit organiza22 tions advocating on behalf of the poor throughout

23 the United States and it is not appropriate for funds

24 regulated under the Legal Services Corporation Act
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1 to be expended lobbying for or against positions

2 taken by those groups.

3 ‘‘(8) Attorneys providing legal assistance must

4 protect the best interests of their clients in keeping

5 with the Code of Professional Responsibility, the

6 Canon of Ethics, and the high standards of the legal

7 profession.

8 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

9 Subsection (a) of section 1010 (42 U.S.C. 2996i) is

10 amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(a) There are authorized to be appropriated for the

12 purposes of carrying out the activities of the Corpora13 tion—

14 ‘‘(1) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 1996,

15 ‘‘(2) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 1997,

16 ‘‘(3) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 1998,

17 ‘‘(4) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, and

18 ‘‘(5) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2000.’’.

19 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON REDISTRICTING ACTIVITY.

20 Section 1007(b) (42 U.S.C. 2996f(b)) is amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the

22 semicolon;

23 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period

24 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

25 (3) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(11) to—

2 ‘‘(A) advocate or oppose, or contribute or

3 make available any funds, personnel, or equip4 ment for use in advocating or opposing, any

5 plan or proposal, or

6 ‘‘(B) represent any party or participate in

7 any other way in litigation,

8 that is intended to or has the effect of altering, re9 vising, or reapportioning a legislative, judicial, or

10 elective district at any level of government, including

11 influencing the timing or manner of the taking of a

12 census.’’.

13 SEC. 5. PROTECTION AGAINST THEFT AND FRAUD.

14 Section 1005 (42 U.S.C. 2996d) is amended by add15 ing at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(h) For purposes of sections 286, 287, 641, 1001,

17 and 1002 of title 18, United States Code, the Corporation

18 shall be considered to be a department or agency of the

19 United States Government.

20 ‘‘(i) For purposes of sections 3729 through 3733 of

21 title 31, United States Code, the term ‘‘United States

22 Government’’ shall include the Corporation, except that

23 actions that are authorized by section 3730(b) of such title

24 to be brought by persons may not be brought against the
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1 Corporation, any recipient, subrecipient, grantee, or con2 tractor of the Corporation, or any employee thereof.

3 ‘‘(j) For purposes of section 1516 of title 18, United

4 States Code—

5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Federal auditor’ shall include

6 any auditor employed or retained on a contractual

7 basis by the Corporation,

8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘contract’ shall include any grant

9 or contract made by the Corporation, and

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘person’, as used in subsection

11 (a) of such section, shall include any grantee or con12 tractor receiving financial assistance under section

13 1006(a)(1).

14 ‘‘(k) Funds provided by the Corporation under sec15 tion 1006 shall be deemed to be Federal appropriations

16 when used by a contractor, grantee, subcontractor, or

17 subgrantee of the Corporation.

18 ‘‘(l) For purposes of section 666 of title 18, United

19 States Code, funds provided by the Corporation shall be

20 deemed to be benefits under a Federal program involving

21 a grant or contract.’’.

22 SEC. 6. SOLICITATION.

23 Section 1007 (42 U.S.C. 2996f) is amended by add24 ing at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(i) Any recipient, and any employee of a recipient,

2 who has given in-person unsolicited advice to a

3 nonattorney that such nonattorney should obtain counsel

4 or take legal action shall not accept employment resulting

5 from that advice, or refer that nonattorney to another re6 cipient or employee of a recipient, except that—

7 ‘‘(1) an attorney may accept employment by a

8 close friend, relative, former client (if the advice

9 given is germane to the previous employment by the

10 client), or person whom the attorney reasonably be11 lieves to be a client because the attorney is currently

12 handling an active legal matter or case for that spe13 cific person;

14 ‘‘(2) an attorney may accept employment that

15 results from the attorney’s participation in activities

16 designed to educate nonattorneys to recognize legal

17 problems, to make intelligent selection of counsel, or

18 to utilize available legal services if such activities are

19 conducted or sponsored by a qualified legal assist20 ance organization;

21 ‘‘(3) without affecting that attorney’s right to

22 accept employment, an attorney may speak publicly

23 or write for publication on legal topics so long as

24 such attorney does not emphasize the attorney’s own

25 professional experience or reputation and does not
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1 undertake to give individual advice in such speech or

2 publication; and

3 ‘‘(4) if success in asserting rights or defenses of

4 a client in litigation in the nature of class action is

5 dependent upon the joinder of others, an attorney

6 may accept, but shall not seek, employment from

7 those contacted for the purpose of obtaining that

8 joinder.’’.

9 SEC. 7. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS FOR LITIGATION.

10 Section 1007 (42 U.S.C. 2996f), as amended by sec11 tion 6 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the

12 end the following:

13 ‘‘(j)(1) No recipient or employee of a recipient may

14 file a complaint or otherwise pursue litigation against a

15 defendant unless—

16 ‘‘(A) all plaintiffs have been specifically identi17 fied, by name, in any complaint filed for purposes of

18 litigation, except to the extent that a court of com19 petent jurisdiction has granted leave to protect the

20 identity of any plaintiff; and

21 ‘‘(B) a statement or statements of facts written

22 in English and, if necessary, in a language which the

23 plaintiffs understand, which enumerate the particu24 lar facts known to the plaintiffs on which the com25 plaint is based, have been signed by the plaintiffs
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1 (including named plaintiffs in a class action), are

2 kept on file by the recipient, and are made available

3 to any Federal department or agency that is audit4 ing the activities of the Corporation or any recipient,

5 and to any auditor receiving Federal funds to con6 duct such auditing, including any auditor or monitor

7 of the Corporation.

8 Other parties shall have access to the statement of facts

9 referred to in subparagraph (B) only through the discov10 ery process after litigation has begun.

11 ‘‘(2) No recipient or employee of a recipient may en12 gage in precomplaint settlement negotiations with a pro13 spective defendant unless—

14 ‘‘(A) all plaintiffs have been specifically identi15 fied, except to the extent that a court of competent

16 jurisdiction has granted leave to protect the identity

17 of any plaintiff; and

18 ‘‘(B) a statement or statements of facts written

19 in English and, if necessary, in a language which the

20 plaintiffs understand, which enumerate the particu21 lar facts known to the plaintiffs on which the com22 plaint will be based if such negotiations fail, have

23 been signed by all plaintiffs (including named plain24 tiffs in a class action), are kept on file by the recipi25 ent, and are made available to all prospective de-
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1 fendants or such defendants’ counsel, to any Federal

2 department or agency that is auditing the activities

3 of the Corporation or any such recipient, and to any

4 auditor receiving Federal funds to conduct such au5 diting, including any auditor or monitor of the Cor6 poration.

7 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), any Federal

8 district court of competent jurisdiction, after notice to po9 tential parties to litigation referred to in paragraph (1)

10 or to negotiations described in paragraph (2) and after

11 an opportunity for a hearing, may enjoin the disclosure

12 of the identity of any potential plaintiff pending the out13 come of such litigation or negotiations, upon the establish14 ment of reasonable cause to believe that such an injunc15 tion is necessary to prevent probable, serious harm to such

16 potential plaintiff.

17 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the court

18 shall, in a case in which subparagraph (A) applies, order

19 the disclosure of the identity of any potential plaintiff to

20 counsel for potential defendants upon the condition that

21 counsel for potential defendants not disclose the identity

22 of such potential plaintiff (other than to investigators or

23 paralegals hired by such counsel), unless authorized in

24 writing by such potential plaintiff’s counsel or the court.
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1 ‘‘(C) In a case in which paragraph (1) applies, coun2 sel for potential defendants and the recipient or employee

3 counsel of the recipient may execute an agreement, in lieu

4 of seeking a court order under subparagraph (A), govern5 ing disclosure of the identity of any potential plaintiff.

6 ‘‘(D) The court may punish as a contempt of court

7 any violation of an order of the court under subparagraph

8 (A) or (B) or of an agreement under subparagraph (C).

9 ‘‘(4) Any funds received from a defendant by a recipi10 ent on behalf of a class of eligible clients shall be placed

11 in an escrow account until the funds may be paid to such

12 clients. Any such funds which are not disbursed to clients

13 within one year of the date on which such funds were re14 ceived shall be returned to the defendant.’’.

15 SEC. 8. LOBBYING.

16 Section 1007(a)(5) (42 U.S.C. 2996f(a)(5)) is

17 amended to read as follows:

18 ‘‘(5) ensure that no funds made available to re19 cipients are used at any time, directly or indirectly—

20 ‘‘(A) to influence the issuance, amendment,

21 or revocation of any executive order or similar

22 promulgation by any Federal, State, or local

23 agency, or to undertake to influence the pas24 sage or defeat of any legislation by the Con25 gress of the United States, or by any State or
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1 local legislative body, or State proposals made

2 by initiative petition or referendum, except to

3 the extent that a governmental agency, a legis4 lative body, a committee, or a member thereof

5 is considering a measure directly affecting the

6 recipient or the Corporation;

7 ‘‘(B) to pay for any publicity or propa8 ganda intended or designed to support or defeat

9 legislation pending before the Congress or State

10 or local legislative bodies or intended or de11 signed to influence any decision by a Federal,

12 State, or local agency;

13 ‘‘(C) to pay for any personal service, ad14 vertisement, telegram, telephone communica15 tion, letter, printed or written matter, or other

16 device, intended or designed to influence any

17 decision by a Federal, State, or local agency,

18 except when legal assistance is provided by an

19 employee of a recipient to an eligible client on

20 a particular application, claim, or case, which

21 directly involves the client’s legal rights or re22 sponsibilities and which does not involve the is23 suance, amendment, or revocation of any agen24 cy promulgation described in subparagraph (A);
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1 ‘‘(D) to pay for any personal service, ad2 vertisement, telegram, telephone communica3 tion, letter, printed or written matter, or any

4 other device intended or designed to influence

5 any Member of Congress or any other Federal,

6 State, or local elected official—

7 ‘‘(i) to favor or oppose any referen8 dum, initiative, constitutional amendment,

9 or any similar procedures of the Congress,

10 any State legislature, any local council, or

11 any similar governing body acting in a leg12 islative capacity,

13 ‘‘(ii) to favor or oppose an authoriza14 tion or appropriation directly affecting the

15 authority, function, or funding of the re16 cipient or the Corporation, or

17 ‘‘(iii) to influence the conduct of over18 sight proceedings of a recipient or the Cor19 poration; or

20 ‘‘(E) to pay for any personal service, ad21 vertisement, telegram, telephone communica22 tion, letter, printed or written matter, or any

23 other device intended or designed to influence

24 any Member of Congress or any other Federal,
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1 State, or local elected official to favor or oppose

2 any Act, bill, resolution, or similar legislation;

3 and ensure that no funds made available to recipi4 ents are used to pay for any administrative or relat5 ed costs associated with an activity prohibited in

6 subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E);’’.

7 SEC. 9. TIMEKEEPING.

8 Section 1008(b) (42 U.S.C. 2996g(b)) is amended—

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and

10 (2) by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(2) The Corporation shall require each recipient to

12 maintain records of time spent on the cases or matters

13 with respect to which that recipient is engaged in activi14 ties. Pursuant to such requirements, each employee of

15 such recipient who is an attorney or paralegal shall record,

16 by the name of the case or matter, at the time such em17 ployee engages in an activity regarding such case or mat18 ter, the type (as defined by the Corporation) of case or

19 matter, the time spent on the activity, and the source of

20 funds to be charged for the activity.’’.

21 SEC. 10. AUTHORITY OF LOCAL GOVERNING BOARDS.

22 Section 1007(c) (42 U.S.C. 2996f(c)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘(1)’’ and ‘‘(2)’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘(A)’’ and ‘‘(B)’’, respectively;

25 (2) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following:

2 ‘‘(2) The board of directors of any nonprofit organi3 zation that is—

4 ‘‘(A) chartered under the laws of one of the

5 States, a purpose of which is furnishing legal assist6 ance to eligible clients, and

7 ‘‘(B) receiving funds made available by or

8 through the Corporation,

9 shall set specific priorities pursuant to section

10 1007(a)(2)(C) for the types of matters and cases to which

11 the staff of the nonprofit organization shall devote its time

12 and resources. The staff of such organization shall not un13 dertake cases or matters other than in accordance with

14 the specific priorities set by its board of directors, except

15 in emergency situations defined by such board. The staff

16 of such organization shall report, to the board of directors

17 of the organization on a quarterly basis and to the Cor18 poration on an annual basis, all cases undertaken other

19 than in accordance with such priorities. The Corporation

20 shall promulgate a suggested list of priorities which boards

21 of directors may use in setting priorities under this para22 graph.’’.

23 SEC. 11. REGULATION OF NONPUBLIC RESOURCES.

24 Section 1010(c) (42 U.S.C. 2996i(c)) is amended to

25 read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(c)(1) Any non-Federal funds received by the Cor2 poration, and any funds received by any recipient from

3 any source other than the Corporation, shall be accounted

4 for and reported as receipts and disbursements separate

5 and distinct from Corporation funds. Any funds so re6 ceived, including funds derived from Interest on Lawyers

7 Trust Accounts, may not be expended by recipients for

8 any purpose prohibited by this title or the Legal Services

9 Reform Act of 1995. The Corporation shall not accept any

10 non-Federal funds, and any recipient shall not accept

11 funds from any source other than the Corporation, unless

12 the Corporation or the recipient, as the case may be, noti13 fies in writing the source of such funds that the funds

14 may not be expended for any purpose prohibited by this

15 title or the Legal Services Reform Act of 1995.

16 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not prevent recipients

17 from—

18 ‘‘(A) receiving Indian tribal funds (including

19 funds from private nonprofit organizations for the

20 benefit of Indians or Indian tribes) and expending

21 them in accordance with the specific purposes for

22 which they are provided; or

23 ‘‘(B) using funds received from a source other

24 than the Corporation to provide legal assistance to

25 a client who is not an eligible client if such funds
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1 are used for the specific purposes for which such

2 funds were received, except that such funds may not

3 be expended by recipients for any purpose prohibited

4 by this title or the Legal Services Reform Act of

5 1995 (other than any requirement regarding the eli6 gibility of clients).’’.

7 SEC. 12. CERTAIN EVICTION PROCEEDINGS.

8 Section 1007 (42 U.S.C. 2996f), as amended by sec9 tions 6 and 7 of this Act, is further amended by adding

10 at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(k)(1) No funds made available by or through the

12 Corporation may be used for defending a person in a pro13 ceeding to evict that person from a public housing project

14 if the person has been charged with the illegal sale or dis15 tribution of a controlled substance and if the eviction pro16 ceeding is brought by a public housing agency because the

17 illegal drug activity of that person threatens the health

18 or safety of other tenants residing in the public housing

19 project or employees of the public housing agency.

20 ‘‘(2) As used in this subsection—

21 ‘‘(A) the term ‘controlled substance’ has the

22 meaning given that term in section 102 of the Con23 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802); and

24 ‘‘(B) the terms ‘public housing project’ and

25 ‘public housing agency’ have the meanings given
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1 those terms in section 3 of the United States Hous2 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a).’’.

3 SEC. 13. IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPETITION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1007 (42 U.S.C. 2996f),

5 as amended by sections 6, 7, and 12 of this Act, is further

6 amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(l)(1) All grants and contracts awarded by the Cor8 poration for the provision or support of legal assistance

9 to eligible clients under this title shall be awarded under

10 a competitive bidding system.

11 ‘‘(2) Rights under sections 1007(a)(9) and 1011 shall

12 not apply to the termination or denial of financial assist13 ance under this title as a result of the competitive award

14 of any grant or contract under paragraph (1), and the

15 expiration of any grant or contract under this title as a

16 result of such competitive award shall not be treated as

17 a termination or denial of refunding under section

18 1007(a)(9) or 1011.

19 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘com20 petitive bidding’ means a system established by regula21 tions issued by the Corporation which provide for the

22 award of grants and contracts on the basis of merit to

23 persons, organizations, and entities described in section

24 1006(a) who apply for such awards in competition with
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1 others under promulgated criteria. The Corporation shall

2 ensure that the system incorporates the following:

3 ‘‘(A) The competitive bidding system shall com4 mence no later than one year after the date of enact5 ment of this provision and all previously awarded

6 grants and contracts shall be set aside and subjected

7 to this system within one year thereafter.

8 ‘‘(B) All awards of grants and contracts made

9 under this system shall be subject to periodic review

10 and renewed with the opportunity for others to com11 pete for the award, and in no event shall any award

12 be granted for a period longer than 5 years.

13 ‘‘(C) Timely notice for the submission of appli14 cations for awards shall be published in periodicals

15 of local and State bar associations and in at least

16 one daily newspaper of general circulation in the

17 area to be served by the award recipient.

18 ‘‘(D) The selection criteria shall include but not

19 be limited to the demonstration of a full understand20 ing of the basic legal needs of the eligible clients to

21 be served and a demonstration of the capability of

22 serving those needs; the reputations of the principals

23 of the applicant; the quality, feasibility, and cost ef24 fectiveness of plans submitted by the applicant for

25 the delivery of legal assistance to the eligible clients
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1 to be served; a demonstration of willingness to abide

2 by the restrictions placed on those awarded grants

3 and contracts by the Corporation; and, if an appli4 cant has previously received an award from the Cor5 poration, the experiences of the Corporation with the

6 applicant.

7 ‘‘(E) No previous recipient of an award of a

8 grant or contract may be given any preference.

9 ‘‘(m)(1) The Corporation shall define service areas

10 and funds available for each service area shall be on a

11 per capita basis pursuant to the number of poor people

12 determined by the Bureau of the Census to be within that

13 area. Funds for a service area may be distributed by the

14 Corporation to one or more recipients as defined in section

15 1006(a).

16 ‘‘(2) The amount of the grants from the Corporation

17 and of the contracts entered into by the Corporation under

18 section 1006(a)(1) shall be an equal figure per poor per19 son for all geographic areas, based on the most recent de20 cennial census of population conducted pursuant to section

21 141 of title 13, United States Code, regardless of the level

22 of funding for any such geographic area before the enact23 ment of the Legal Services Reform Act of 1995.

24 ‘‘(3) Beginning with the fiscal year beginning after

25 the results of the most recent decennial census have been
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1 reported to the President under section 141(b) of title 13,

2 United States Code, funding of geographic areas served

3 by recipients shall be redetermined, in accordance with

4 paragraph (2), based on the per capita poverty population

5 in each such geographic area under that decennial cen6 sus.’’.

7 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF RECIPIENTS.—Section

8 1007(c) (42 U.S.C. 2996f(c)), as amended by section 10

9 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the

10 following:

11 ‘‘(3) Funds appropriated for the Corporation may not

12 be used by the Corporation in making grants or entering

13 into contracts for legal assistance unless the Corporation

14 ensures that the recipient is either—

15 ‘‘(A) a private attorney or attorneys,

16 ‘‘(B) State and local governments or substate

17 regional planning and coordination agencies which

18 are composed of substate areas whose governing

19 board is controlled by locally elected officials, or

20 ‘‘(C) a qualified nonprofit organization char21 tered under the laws of one of the States—

22 ‘‘(i) a purpose of which is furnishing legal

23 assistance to eligible clients, and

24 ‘‘(ii) the majority of the board of directors

25 or other governing body of which is comprised
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1 of attorneys who are admitted to practice in one

2 of the States and are approved to serve on such

3 board or body by the governing bodies of State,

4 county, or municipal bar associations the mem5 bership of which represents a majority of the

6 attorneys practicing law in the locality in which

7 the organization is to provide legal assistance.

8 The approval described in subparagraph (B)(ii) may be

9 given to more than one group of directors.’’.

10 SEC. 14. POWERS, RESEARCH, AND ATTORNEYS’ FEES.

11 (a) POWERS.—Section 1006(a)(1)(A)(ii) is amended

12 to read as follows:

13 ‘‘(ii) State and local governments or sub14 state regional planning and coordination agen15 cies which are composed of substate areas

16 whose governing board is controlled by locally

17 elected officials,’’.

18 (b) RESEARCH.—Section 1006(a) (42 U.S.C.

19 2996e(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of

20 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of paragraph

21 (2) and inserting a period, and by striking paragraph (3).

22 (c) ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—Section 1006 (42 U.S.C.

23 2996e(f)) is amended by striking subsection (f) and insert24 ing the following:
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1 ‘‘(f)(1) A recipient, or any client of such recipient,

2 may not claim or collect attorneys’ fees from nongovern3 mental parties to litigation initiated by such client with

4 the assistance of such recipient.

5 ‘‘(2) The Corporation shall create a fund to pay de6 fendants or clients under paragraphs (3). In addition to

7 any other amounts appropriated to the Corporation, there

8 is authorized to be appropriated to such fund for each fis9 cal year such sums as may be necessary.

10 ‘‘(3) If a Federal court has found an action com11 menced by a plaintiff with the assistance of a recipient

12 involves a violation of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of

13 Civil Procedure, or if the president of the Corporation

14 finds that an action commenced by a plaintiff with the

15 assistance of a recipient in any court involves a violation

16 of the standards of Rule 11, or was commenced for the

17 purpose of retaliation or harassment, the president of the

18 Corporation shall, upon application by the defendant,

19 award from the Fund all reasonable costs and attorneys’

20 fees incurred by the defendant in defending the action.

21 ‘‘(g)(1) The Board, within 90 days after the date of

22 the enactment of the Legal Services Reform Act of 1995,

23 shall issue regulations to provide for the distribution of

24 attorneys’ fees received by a recipient, in accordance with

25 paragraph (2).
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1 ‘‘(2) Such fees shall be transferred to the Corporation

2 and the Corporation shall distribute such fees among its

3 grantees for the direct delivery of legal assistance, except

4 that, subject to approval by the Corporation—

5 ‘‘(A) a recipient shall not be required to trans6 fer fees or other compensation received as a result

7 of a mandated court appointment;

8 ‘‘(B) a recipient may retain reasonable costs

9 customarily allowed in litigation against an unsuc10 cessful party; and

11 ‘‘(C) a recipient may retain the actual cost of

12 bringing the action, including the proportion of the

13 compensation of each attorney involved in the action

14 which is attributable to that action.’’.

15 SEC. 15. ABORTION.

16 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 1007 (42 U.S.C. 2996f),

17 as amended by sections 6, 7, 12, and 13 of this Act, is

18 further amended by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(n) No funds made available to any recipient from

20 any source may be used to participate in any litigation

21 with respect to abortion.’’.

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1007(b)

23 (42 U.S.C. 2996f(b)), as amended by section 4, is amend24 ed by striking paragraph (8) and redesignating para-
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1 graphs (9), (10), and (11) as paragraphs (8), (9), and

2 (10), respectively.

3 SEC. 16. CLASS ACTIONS.

4 Section 1006(d)(5) (42 U.S.C. 2996e(d)(5)) is

5 amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘No’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) Subject

7 to subparagraph (B), no’’; and

8 (2) by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(B) No recipient or employee of a recipient may

10 bring a class action suit against the Federal Government

11 or any State or local government unless—

12 ‘‘(i) the governing body of the recipient has ex13 pressly approved the filing of such an action;

14 ‘‘(ii) the class relief which is the subject of such

15 an action is sought for the primary benefit of indi16 viduals who are eligible for legal assistance under

17 this title; and

18 ‘‘(iii) before filing such an action, the project

19 director of the recipient determines that the govern20 ment entity is not likely to change the policy or

21 practice in question, that the policy or practice will

22 continue to adversely affect eligible clients, that the

23 recipient has given notice of its intention to seek

24 class relief, and that responsible efforts to resolve

25 without litigation the adverse effects of the policy or
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1 practice have not been successful or would be ad2 verse to the interest of the clients.’’.

3 SEC. 17. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF FUNDS FOR LEGAL AS4 SISTANCE TO ALIENS.

5 Section 1007 (42 U.S.C. 2996f), as amended by sec6 tions 6, 7, 12, 13, and 15 of this Act, is further amended

7 by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(o) No funds made available to any recipient from

9 any source may be expended to provide legal assistance

10 for or on behalf of any alien unless the alien is present

11 in the United States and is—

12 ‘‘(1) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent

13 residence as defined in section 101(a)(2) of the Im14 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

15 1101(a)(20));

16 ‘‘(2) an alien who is either married to a United

17 States citizen or is a parent or an unmarried child

18 under the age of 21 years of such a citizen and who

19 has filed an application for adjustment of status to

20 permanent resident under the Immigration and Na21 tionality Act, and such application has not been re22 jected;

23 ‘‘(3) an alien who is lawfully present in the

24 United States pursuant to an admission under sec25 tion 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
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1 U.S.C. 1157, relating to refugee admissions) or who

2 has been granted asylum by the Attorney General

3 under such Act;

4 ‘‘(4) an alien who is lawfully present in the

5 United States as a result of the Attorney General’s

6 withholding of deportation pursuant to section

7 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

8 U.S.C. 1253(h)); or

9 ‘‘(5) an alien to whom section 305 of the Immi10 gration Reform and Control Act of 1986 applies, but

11 only to the extent that the legal assistance provided

12 is that described in that section.

13 An alien who is lawfully present in the United States as

14 a result of being granted conditional entry pursuant to

15 section 203(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

16 (8 U.S.C 11553(a)(7)) before April 1, 1980, because of

17 persecution or fear of persecution on account of race, reli18 gion, or political opinion or because of being uprooted by

19 catastrophic natural calamity shall be deemed to be an

20 alien described in paragraph (3).’’.

21 SEC. 18. TRAINING.

22 Section 1007(b)(6) (42 U.S.C. 2996f(b)(6)) is

23 amended to read as follows:

24 ‘‘(6) to support or conduct training programs

25 for the purpose of advocating particular public poli-
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1 cies or encouraging political activities, labor or

2 antilabor activities, boycotts, picketing, strikes, or

3 demonstrations, including the dissemination of infor4 mation about such policies or activities, except that

5 this paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the

6 training of attorneys or paralegal personnel nec7 essary to prepare them to provide adequate legal as8 sistance to eligible clients, to advise any eligible cli9 ent as to the nature of the legislative process, or to

10 inform any eligible client of the client’s rights under

11 any statute, order, or regulation;’’.

12 SEC. 19. COPAYMENTS.

13 Section 1007 (42 U.S.C. 2996f), as amended by sec14 tions 6, 7, 12, 13, 15, and 17 of this Act, is further

15 amended by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(p) The Corporation shall undertake one or more

17 demonstration projects in order to study the feasibility of

18 using client copayments to assist in setting the service pri19 orities of its programs. Based on these projects and such

20 other information as it considers appropriate, the Cor21 poration may adopt a permanent system of client

22 copayments for some or all of its programs of legal assist23 ance.’’.
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1 SEC. 20. FEE-GENERATING CASES.

2 (a) REPRESENTATION IN FEE-GENERATING CASE.—

3 Paragraph (1) of section 1007(b) (42 U.S.C 2996f(b)) is

4 amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(1) to provide legal assistance with respect to

6 any fee-generating case, except that this paragraph

7 does not preclude representation of otherwise eligible

8 clients in cases in which the client seeks benefits

9 under titles II or XVI of the Social Security Act;’’.

10 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 1007(b) is amended by

11 adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘fee-generating

13 case’ means any case which if undertaken on behalf of an

14 eligible client by an attorney in private practice may rea15 sonably be expected to result in a fee for legal services

16 from an award to a client from public funds, from the

17 opposing party, or from any other source.’’.

18 SEC. 21. WELFARE REFORM.

19 Section 1007(b) (42 U.S.C. 2996f(b)), as amended

20 by section 15(b), is amended—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph

22 (9),

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of para24 graph (10) and inserting a semicolon, and

25 (3) by adding after paragraph (10) the follow26 ing:
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1 ‘‘(11) to provide legal representation for any

2 person or participate in any other way in litigation,

3 lobbying, or rulemaking involving efforts to reform a

4 State or Federal welfare system, except that this

5 paragraph does not preclude a recipient from rep6 resenting an individual client who seeking specific

7 relief from a welfare agency where such relief does

8 not involve an effort to amend or otherwise challenge

9 existing law; or’’.

10 SEC. 22. PRISONER LITIGATION.

11 Section 1007(b) (42 U.S.C. 2996f(b)). as amended

12 by section 21, is amended by adding after paragraph (11)

13 the following:

14 ‘‘(12) to provide legal representation in litiga15 tion on behalf of a local, State, or Federal pris16 oner.’’.

17 SEC. 23. APPOINTMENT OF CORPORATION PRESIDENT.

18 Section 1005 (42 U.S.C. 2996d) is amended in sub19 section (a)—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘The Board shall’’ and inserting

21 ‘‘The President, by and with the advice and consent

22 of the Senate, shall’’;

23 (2) by adding ‘‘who shall serve at the pleasure

24 of the President’’ after ‘‘the president of the Cor25 poration,’’;
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1 (3) by striking ‘‘as the Board’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘as the President’’; and

3 (4) by striking ‘‘by the Board’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘by the President’’.

5 SEC. 24. EVASION.

6 The Legal Services Corporation Act is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating sections 1013 and 1014 as

8 sections 1014 and 1015, respectively; and

9 (2) by inserting after section 1012 the following

10 new section:

11 ‘‘EVASION

12 ‘‘SEC. 1013. Any attempt, such as the creation or use

13 of ‘alternative corporations’, to avoid or otherwise evade

14 the provisions of this title or the Legal Services Reform

15 Act of 1995 is prohibited.’’.

16 SEC. 25. PAY FOR OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE COR17 PORATION.

18 Section 1005(d) (42 U.S.C. 2996d(d)) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘V’’ and inserting ‘‘III’’; and

20 (2) by striking ‘‘5316’’ and inserting ‘‘5314’’.

21 SEC. 26. LOCATION OF PRINCIPAL OFFICE.

22 Section 1003(b) (42 U.S.C. 2996b(b)) is amended by

23 striking ‘‘District of Columbia’’ and inserting ‘‘Washing24 ton D.C. metropolitan area’’.
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1 SEC. 27. DEFINITION.

2 As used in section 1009(d) of Legal Services Cor3 poration Act, the term ‘‘attorney client privilege’’ protects

4 only a communication made in confidence to an attorney

5 by a client for the purpose of seeking legal advice. Claims

6 of such privilege and claims of confidentiality do not, ex7 cept to the extent provided by court order, protect from

8 disclosure to any Federal department or agency that is

9 auditing the activities of the Legal Services Corporation

10 or any recipient (as defined in section 1002 of the Legal

11 Services Corporation Act), or to any auditor receiving

12 Federal funds to conduct such auditing, including any

13 auditor or monitor of the Corporation, the names of plain14 tiffs that are a matter of public record or documents which

15 have been seen by third parties, including all financial

16 books and records. The Corporation shall not disclose any

17 such information, except to the Inspector General of the

18 Corporation, to Federal or State law enforcement, judicial,

19 or other officials, or to officials of appropriate bar associa20 tions for the purpose of conducting investigations of viola21 tions of rules of professional conduct.

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