107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 860

AN ACT

To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow a

judge to whom a case is transferred to retain jurisdiction over certain multidistrict litigationcases for trial, and to provide for Federal jurisdiction of certain multiparty, multiforum civil actions.

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 860

AN ACT

To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow a judge

to whom a case is transferred to retain jurisdiction over

certain multidistrict litigation cases for trial, and to provide for Federal jurisdiction of certain multiparty,

multiforum civil actions.
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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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Multidistrict,

5 Multiparty, Multiforum Trial Jurisdiction Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION.

7 Section 1407 of title 28, United States Code, is

8 amended—

9 (1) in the third sentence of subsection (a), by

10 inserting ‘‘or ordered transferred to the transferee

11 or other district under subsection (i)’’ after ‘‘termi12 nated’’; and

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 section:

15 ‘‘(i)(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and except as pro16 vided in subsection (j), any action transferred under this

17 section by the panel may be transferred for trial purposes,

18 by the judge or judges of the transferee district to whom

19 the action was assigned, to the transferee or other district

20 in the interest of justice and for the convenience of the

21 parties and witnesses.

22 ‘‘(2) Any action transferred for trial purposes under

23 paragraph (1) shall be remanded by the panel for the de24 termination of compensatory damages to the district court

25 from which it was transferred, unless the court to which
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1 the action has been transferred for trial purposes also

2 finds, for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and

3 in the interests of justice, that the action should be re4 tained for the determination of compensatory damages.’’.

5 SEC. 3. MULTIPARTY, MULTIFORUM JURISDICTION OF DIS6 TRICT COURTS.

7 (a) BASIS OF JURISDICTION.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 85 of title 28,

9 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

10 end the following new section:

11 ‘‘§ 1369. Multiparty, multiforum jurisdiction

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The district courts shall have

13 original jurisdiction of any civil action involving minimal

14 diversity between adverse parties that arises from a single

15 accident, where at least 25 natural persons have either

16 died or incurred injury in the accident at a discrete loca17 tion and, in the case of injury, the injury has resulted in

18 damages which exceed $150,000 per person, exclusive of

19 interest and costs, if—

20 ‘‘(1) a defendant resides in a State and a sub21 stantial part of the accident took place in another

22 State or other location, regardless of whether that

23 defendant is also a resident of the State where a

24 substantial part of the accident took place;
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1 ‘‘(2) any two defendants reside in different

2 States, regardless of whether such defendants are

3 also residents of the same State or States; or

4 ‘‘(3) substantial parts of the accident took place

5 in different States.

6 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION OF JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT

7 COURTS.—The district court shall abstain from hearing

8 any civil action described in subsection (a) in which—

9 ‘‘(1) the substantial majority of all plaintiffs

10 are citizens of a single State of which the primary

11 defendants are also citizens; and

12 ‘‘(2) the claims asserted will be governed pri13 marily by the laws of that State.

14 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS.—For pur15 poses of this section—

16 ‘‘(1) minimal diversity exists between adverse

17 parties if any party is a citizen of a State and any

18 adverse party is a citizen of another State, a citizen

19 or subject of a foreign state, or a foreign state as

20 defined in section 1603(a) of this title;

21 ‘‘(2) a corporation is deemed to be a citizen of

22 any State, and a citizen or subject of any foreign

23 state, in which it is incorporated or has its principal

24 place of business, and is deemed to be a resident of
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1 any State in which it is incorporated or licensed to

2 do business or is doing business;

3 ‘‘(3) the term ‘injury’ means—

4 ‘‘(A) physical harm to a natural person;

5 and

6 ‘‘(B) physical damage to or destruction of

7 tangible property, but only if physical harm de8 scribed in subparagraph (A) exists;

9 ‘‘(4) the term ‘accident’ means a sudden acci10 dent, or a natural event culminating in an accident,

11 that results in death or injury incurred at a discrete

12 location by at least 25 natural persons; and

13 ‘‘(5) the term ‘State’ includes the District of

14 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and

15 any territory or possession of the United States.

16 ‘‘(d) INTERVENING PARTIES.—In any action in a dis17 trict court which is or could have been brought, in whole

18 or in part, under this section, any person with a claim

19 arising from the accident described in subsection (a) shall

20 be permitted to intervene as a party plaintiff in the action,

21 even if that person could not have brought an action in

22 a district court as an original matter.

23 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION OF JUDICIAL PANEL ON MULTI24 DISTRICT LITIGATION.—A district court in which an ac25 tion under this section is pending shall promptly notify
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1 the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation of the pend2 ency of the action.’’.

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of

4 sections at the beginning of chapter 85 of title 28,

5 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

6 end the following new item:

‘‘1369. Multiparty, multiforum jurisdiction.’’.

7 (b) VENUE.—Section 1391 of title 28, United States

8 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(g) A civil action in which jurisdiction of the district

10 court is based upon section 1369 of this title may be

11 brought in any district in which any defendant resides or

12 in which a substantial part of the accident giving rise to

13 the action took place.’’.

14 (c) MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION.—Section 1407 of

15 title 28, United States Code, as amended by section 2 of

16 this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing:

18 ‘‘(j)(1) In actions transferred under this section when

19 jurisdiction is or could have been based, in whole or in

20 part, on section 1369 of this title, the transferee district

21 court may, notwithstanding any other provision of this

22 section, retain actions so transferred for the determination

23 of liability and punitive damages. An action retained for

24 the determination of liability shall be remanded to the dis25 trict court from which the action was transferred, or to
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1 the State court from which the action was removed, for

2 the determination of damages, other than punitive dam3 ages, unless the court finds, for the convenience of parties

4 and witnesses and in the interest of justice, that the action

5 should be retained for the determination of damages.

6 ‘‘(2) Any remand under paragraph (1) shall not be

7 effective until 60 days after the transferee court has

8 issued an order determining liability and has certified its

9 intention to remand some or all of the transferred actions

10 for the determination of damages. An appeal with respect

11 to the liability determination of the transferee court may

12 be taken during that 60-day period to the court of appeals

13 with appellate jurisdiction over the transferee court. In the

14 event a party files such an appeal, the remand shall not

15 be effective until the appeal has been finally disposed of.

16 Once the remand has become effective, the liability deter17 mination shall not be subject to further review by appeal

18 or otherwise.

19 ‘‘(3) An appeal with respect to determination of puni20 tive damages by the transferee court may be taken, during

21 the 60-day period beginning on the date the order making

22 the determination is issued, to the court of appeals with

23 jurisdiction over the transferee court.
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1 ‘‘(4) Any decision under this subsection concerning

2 remand for the determination of damages shall not be re3 viewable by appeal or otherwise.

4 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the au5 thority of the transferee court to transfer or dismiss an

6 action on the ground of inconvenient forum.’’.

7 (d) REMOVAL OF ACTIONS.—Section 1441 of title 28,

8 United States Code, is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (e) by striking ‘‘(e) The court

10 to which such civil action is removed’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘(f) The court to which a civil action is removed

12 under this section’’; and

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol14 lowing new subsection:

15 ‘‘(e)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection

16 (b) of this section, a defendant in a civil action in a State

17 court may remove the action to the district court of the

18 United States for the district and division embracing the

19 place where the action is pending if—

20 ‘‘(A) the action could have been brought in a

21 United States district court under section 1369 of

22 this title; or

23 ‘‘(B) the defendant is a party to an action

24 which is or could have been brought, in whole or in

25 part, under section 1369 in a United States district
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1 court and arises from the same accident as the ac2 tion in State court, even if the action to be removed

3 could not have been brought in a district court as

4 an original matter.

5 The removal of an action under this subsection shall be

6 made in accordance with section 1446 of this title, except

7 that a notice of removal may also be filed before trial of

8 the action in State court within 30 days after the date

9 on which the defendant first becomes a party to an action

10 under section 1369 in a United States district court that

11 arises from the same accident as the action in State court,

12 or at a later time with leave of the district court.

13 ‘‘(2) Whenever an action is removed under this sub14 section and the district court to which it is removed or

15 transferred under section 1407(j) has made a liability de16 termination requiring further proceedings as to damages,

17 the district court shall remand the action to the State

18 court from which it had been removed for the determina19 tion of damages, unless the court finds that, for the con20 venience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of

21 justice, the action should be retained for the determination

22 of damages.

23 ‘‘(3) Any remand under paragraph (2) shall not be

24 effective until 60 days after the district court has issued

25 an order determining liability and has certified its inten-
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1 tion to remand the removed action for the determination

2 of damages. An appeal with respect to the liability deter3 mination of the district court may be taken during that

4 60-day period to the court of appeals with appellate juris5 diction over the district court. In the event a party files

6 such an appeal, the remand shall not be effective until the

7 appeal has been finally disposed of. Once the remand has

8 become effective, the liability determination shall not be

9 subject to further review by appeal or otherwise.

10 ‘‘(4) Any decision under this subsection concerning

11 remand for the determination of damages shall not be re12 viewable by appeal or otherwise.

13 ‘‘(5) An action removed under this subsection shall

14 be deemed to be an action under section 1369 and an ac15 tion in which jurisdiction is based on section 1369 of this

16 title for purposes of this section and sections 1407, 1697,

17 and 1785 of this title.

18 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the au19 thority of the district court to transfer or dismiss an ac20 tion on the ground of inconvenient forum.’’.

21 (e) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—

22 (1) OTHER THAN SUBPOENAS.—(A) Chapter

23 113 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by

24 adding at the end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘§ 1697. Service in multiparty, multiforum actions

2 ‘‘When the jurisdiction of the district court is based

3 in whole or in part upon section 1369 of this title, process,

4 other than subpoenas, may be served at any place within

5 the United States, or anywhere outside the United States

6 if otherwise permitted by law.’’.

7 (B) The table of sections at the beginning of

8 chapter 113 of title 28, United States Code, is

9 amended by adding at the end the following new

10 item:

‘‘1697. Service in multiparty, multiforum actions.’’.

11 (2) SERVICE OF SUBPOENAS.—(A) Chapter 117

12 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by add13 ing at the end the following new section:

14 ‘‘§ 1785. Subpoenas in multiparty, multiforum actions

15 ‘‘When the jurisdiction of the district court is based

16 in whole or in part upon section 1369 of this title, a sub17 poena for attendance at a hearing or trial may, if author18 ized by the court upon motion for good cause shown, and

19 upon such terms and conditions as the court may impose,

20 be served at any place within the United States, or any21 where outside the United States if otherwise permitted by

22 law.’’.

23 (B) The table of sections at the beginning of

24 chapter 117 of title 28, United States Code, is
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1 amended by adding at the end the following new

2 item:

‘‘1785. Subpoenas in multiparty, multiforum actions.’’.

3 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 (a) SECTION 2.—The amendments made by section

5 2 shall apply to any civil action pending on or brought

6 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

7 (b) SECTION 3.—The amendments made by section

8 3 shall apply to a civil action if the accident giving rise

9 to the cause of action occurred on or after the 90th day

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives March 14,

2001.

Attest:

Clerk.