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Union Calendar No. 9

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 860

[Report No. 107–14]

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.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 6, 2001

Mr. SENSENBRENNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

MARCH 12, 2001

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed

A BILL

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.

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

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

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

4 SEC. 2. MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION.

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

6 amended—

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

8 inserting ‘‘or ordered transferred to the transferee

9 or other district under subsection (i)’’ after ‘‘termi10 nated’’; and

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub12 section:

13 ‘‘(i)(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and except as pro14 vided in subsection (j), any action transferred under this

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

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

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

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

19 parties and witnesses.

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

21 paragraph (1) shall be remanded by the panel for the de22 termination of compensatory damages to the district court

23 from which it was transferred, unless the court to which

24 the action has been transferred for trial purposes also

25 finds, for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and
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1 in the interests of justice, that the action should be re2 tained for the determination of compensatory damages.’’.

3 SEC. 3. MULTIPARTY, MULTIFORUM JURISDICTION OF DIS4 TRICT COURTS.

5 (a) BASIS OF JURISDICTION.—

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

7 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

8 end the following new section:

9 ‘‘§ 1369. Multiparty, multiforum jurisdiction

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

11 original jurisdiction of any civil action involving minimal

12 diversity between adverse parties that arises from a single

13 accident, where at least 25 natural persons have either

14 died or incurred injury in the accident at a discrete loca15 tion and, in the case of injury, the injury has resulted in

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

17 interest and costs, if—

18 ‘‘(1) a defendant resides in a State and a sub19 stantial part of the accident took place in another

20 State or other location, regardless of whether that

21 defendant is also a resident of the State where a

22 substantial part of the accident took place;

23 ‘‘(2) any two defendants reside in different

24 States, regardless of whether such defendants are

25 also residents of the same State or States; or
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1 ‘‘(3) substantial parts of the accident took place

2 in different States.

3 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION OF JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT

4 COURTS.—The district court shall abstain from hearing

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

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

7 are citizens of a single State of which the primary

8 defendants are also citizens; and

9 ‘‘(2) the claims asserted will be governed pri10 marily by the laws of that State.

11 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS.—For pur12 poses of this section—

13 ‘‘(1) minimal diversity exists between adverse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

21 place of business, and is deemed to be a resident of

22 any State in which it is incorporated or licensed to

23 do business or is doing business;

24 ‘‘(3) the term ‘injury’ means—
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1 ‘‘(A) physical harm to a natural person;

2 and

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

4 tangible property, but only if physical harm de5 scribed in subparagraph (A) exists;

6 ‘‘(4) the term ‘accident’ means a sudden acci7 dent, or a natural event culminating in an accident,

8 that results in death or injury incurred at a discrete

9 location by at least 25 natural persons; and

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

11 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and

12 any territory or possession of the United States.

13 ‘‘(d) INTERVENING PARTIES.—In any action in a dis14 trict court which is or could have been brought, in whole

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

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

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

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

19 a district court as an original matter.

20 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION OF JUDICIAL PANEL ON MULTI21 DISTRICT LITIGATION.—A district court in which an ac22 tion under this section is pending shall promptly notify

23 the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation of the pend24 ency of the action.’’.
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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of

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

3 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

4 end the following new item:

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

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

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

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

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

9 brought in any district in which any defendant resides or

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

11 the action took place.’’.

12 (c) MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION.—Section 1407 of

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

14 this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing:

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

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

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

19 court may, notwithstanding any other provision of this

20 section, retain actions so transferred for the determination

21 of liability and punitive damages. An action retained for

22 the determination of liability shall be remanded to the dis23 trict court from which the action was transferred, or to

24 the State court from which the action was removed, for

25 the determination of damages, other than punitive dam-
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1 ages, unless the court finds, for the convenience of parties

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

3 should be retained for the determination of damages.

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

5 effective until 60 days after the transferee court has

6 issued an order determining liability and has certified its

7 intention to remand some or all of the transferred actions

8 for the determination of damages. An appeal with respect

9 to the liability determination and the choice of law deter10 mination of the transferee court may be taken during that

11 60-day period to the court of appeals with appellate juris12 diction over the transferee court. In the event a party files

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

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

15 become effective, the liability determination and the choice

16 of law determination shall not be subject to further review

17 by appeal or otherwise.

18 ‘‘(3) An appeal with respect to determination of puni19 tive damages by the transferee court may be taken, during

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

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

22 jurisdiction over the transferee court.

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

24 remand for the determination of damages shall not be re25 viewable by appeal or otherwise.
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1 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the au2 thority of the transferee court to transfer or dismiss an

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

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

5 United States Code, is amended—

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

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

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

9 under this section’’; and

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol11 lowing new subsection:

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

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

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

15 United States for the district and division embracing the

16 place where the action is pending if—

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

18 United States district court under section 1369 of

19 this title; or

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

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

22 part, under section 1369 in a United States district

23 court and arises from the same accident as the ac24 tion in State court, even if the action to be removed
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1 could not have been brought in a district court as

2 an original matter.

3 The removal of an action under this subsection shall be

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

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

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

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

8 under section 1369 in a United States district court that

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

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

11 ‘‘(2) Whenever an action is removed under this sub12 section and the district court to which it is removed or

13 transferred under section 1407(j) has made a liability de14 termination requiring further proceedings as to damages,

15 the district court shall remand the action to the State

16 court from which it had been removed for the determina17 tion of damages, unless the court finds that, for the con18 venience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of

19 justice, the action should be retained for the determination

20 of damages.

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

22 effective until 60 days after the district court has issued

23 an order determining liability and has certified its inten24 tion to remand the removed action for the determination

25 of damages. An appeal with respect to the liability deter-
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1 mination and the choice of law determination of the dis2 trict court may be taken during that 60-day period to the

3 court of appeals with appellate jurisdiction over the dis4 trict court. In the event a party files such an appeal, the

5 remand shall not be effective until the appeal has been

6 finally disposed of. Once the remand has become effective,

7 the liability determination and the choice of law deter8 mination shall not be subject to further review by appeal

9 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 1368 of this

16 title for purposes of this section and sections 1407, 1660,

17 1697, 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.

Union Calendar No. 9

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 860

[Report No. 107–14]

A BILL

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.

MARCH 12, 2001

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed