II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 855

To clarify the applicable standards of professional conduct for attorneys

for the Government, and other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 21, 1999

Mr. LEAHY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To clarify the applicable standards of professional conduct

for attorneys for the Government, and 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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Professional Standards

5 for Government Attorneys Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR ATTORNEYS FOR

7 THE GOVERNMENT.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 530B of title 28, United

9 States Code, is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘§ 530B. Professional standards for attorneys for the

2 Government

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘attorney for the Government’

5 means any attorney described in section 77.2 of part

6 77 of title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations (as

7 in effect on the date of enactment of the Profes8 sional Standards for Government Attorneys Act of

9 1999) and includes any independent counsel, or em10 ployee of such a counsel, appointed under chapter

11 40;

12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘court’ means any Federal, State,

13 or local court or other adjudicatory body, including

14 an administrative board or tribunal; and

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘State’ means a State of the

16 United States, the District of Columbia, and any

17 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United

18 States.

19 ‘‘(b) CHOICE OF LAW.—Subject to any uniform na20 tional rule prescribed by the Supreme Court under chapter

21 131, the standards of professional conduct governing an

22 attorney for the Government shall be—

23 ‘‘(1) with respect to conduct in connection with

24 a proceeding in or before a court, the standards es25 tablished by the rules and decisions of that court;
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1 ‘‘(2) with respect to conduct in connection with

2 a pending or contemplated grand jury proceeding,

3 the standards established by the rules and decisions

4 of the court under whose authority the grand jury

5 was impanelled;

6 ‘‘(3) with respect to all other conduct—

7 ‘‘(A) the standards established by the rules

8 and decisions of the State in which the attorney

9 is licensed to practice; or

10 ‘‘(B) if the attorney is licensed to practice

11 in more than 1 State—

12 ‘‘(i) the standards established by the

13 rules and decisions of the licensing State

14 in which the attorney principally practices;

15 or

16 ‘‘(ii) if the conduct has a predominant

17 effect in another State in which the attor18 ney is licensed to practice, the standards

19 established by the rules and decisions of

20 the licensing State so affected.

21 ‘‘(c) UNIFORM NATIONAL RULE.—(1) In order to en22 courage the Supreme Court to prescribe, under chapter

23 131, a uniform national rule governing attorneys for the

24 Government with respect to communications with rep25 resented persons and parties, not later than 1 year after
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1 the date of enactment of the Professional Standards for

2 Government Attorneys Act of 1999, the Judicial Con3 ference of the United States shall submit to the Chief Jus4 tice of the United States a report, which shall include rec5 ommendations with respect to amending the Federal Rules

6 of Civil and Criminal Procedure to provide for such a uni7 form national rule.

8 ‘‘(2) In developing the recommendations included in

9 the report under paragraph (1), the Judicial Conference

10 of the United States shall take into consideration, as

11 appropriate—

12 ‘‘(A) the needs and circumstances of

13 multiforum and multijurisdictional litigation;

14 ‘‘(B) the special needs and interests of the

15 United States in investigating and prosecuting viola16 tions of Federal criminal and civil law; and

17 ‘‘(C) practices that are approved under Federal

18 statutory or case law or that are otherwise con19 sistent with traditional Federal law enforcement

20 techniques.

21 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion may be construed to abridge, enlarge, or modify the

23 power of the Supreme Court or of any court established

24 by an Act of Congress, under chapter 131 or any other

25 provision of law, to prescribe standards of professional
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1 conduct for attorneys practicing in and before the Federal

2 courts, including attorneys for the Government.’’.

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

4 The analysis for chapter 31 of title 28, United States

5 Code, is amended, in the item relating to section 530B,

6 by striking ‘‘Ethical’’ and inserting ‘‘Professional’’.

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