I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2112

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

JUNE 9, 1999

Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Mr. HYDE, and Mr. COBLE) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘Multidistrict,

5 Multiparty, Multiforum Trial Jurisdiction Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION.

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

3 amended—

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

5 inserting ‘‘or ordered transferred to the transferee

6 or other district under subsection (i)’’ after ‘‘termi7 nated’’; and

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 section:

10 ‘‘(i) Except as provided in subsection (j), any action

11 transferred under this section by the panel may be trans12 ferred for trial purposes, by the judge or judges of the

13 transferee district to whom the action was assigned, to the

14 transferee or other district in the interest of justice and

15 for the convenience of the parties and witnesses.’’.

16 SEC. 3. MULTIPARTY, MULTIFORUM JURISDICTION OF DIS17 TRICT COURTS.

18 (a) BASIS OF JURISDICTION.—

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

20 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

21 end the following new section:

22 ‘‘§ 1369. Multiparty, multiforum jurisdiction

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

24 original jurisdiction of any civil action involving minimal

25 diversity between adverse parties that arises from a single

26 accident, where at least 25 natural persons have either
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1 died or incurred injury in the accident at a discrete loca2 tion and, in the case of injury, the injury has resulted in

3 damages which exceed $50,000 per person, exclusive of in4 terest and costs, if—

5 ‘‘(1) a defendant resides in a State and a sub6 stantial part of the accident took place in another

7 State or other location, regardless of whether that

8 defendant is also a resident of the State where a

9 substantial part of the accident took place;

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

11 States, regardless of whether such defendants are

12 also residents of the same State or States; or

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

14 in different States.

15 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS.—For pur16 poses of this section—

17 ‘‘(1) minimal diversity exists between adverse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

25 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 ‘‘(c) 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 ‘‘(d) 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 and the choice of law deter12 mination of the transferee court may be taken during that

13 60-day period to the court of appeals with appellate juris14 diction over the transferee court. In the event a party files

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

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

17 become effective, the liability determination and the choice

18 of law determination shall not be subject to further review

19 by appeal or otherwise.

20 ‘‘(3) An appeal with respect to determination of puni21 tive damages by the transferee court may be taken, during

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

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

24 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 and the choice of law determination of the dis4 trict court may be taken during that 60-day period to the

5 court of appeals with appellate jurisdiction over the dis6 trict court. In the event a party files such an appeal, the

7 remand shall not be effective until the appeal has been

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

9 the liability determination and the choice of law deter10 mination shall not be subject to further review by appeal

11 or otherwise.

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

13 remand for the determination of damages shall not be re14 viewable by appeal or otherwise.

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

16 be deemed to be an action under section 1369 and an ac17 tion in which jurisdiction is based on section 1368 of this

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

19 1697, and 1785 of this title.

20 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the au21 thority of the district court to transfer or dismiss an ac22 tion on the ground of inconvenient forum.’’.

23 (e) CHOICE OF LAW.—
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1 (1) DETERMINATION BY THE COURT.—Chapter

2 111 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by

3 adding at the end the following new section:

4 ‘‘§ 1660. Choice of law in multiparty, multiforum ac5 tions

6 ‘‘(a) FACTORS.—In an action which is or could have

7 been brought, in whole or in part, under section 1369 of

8 this title, the district court in which the action is brought

9 or to which it is removed shall determine the source of

10 the applicable substantive law, except that if an action is

11 transferred to another district court, the transferee court

12 shall determine the source of the applicable substantive

13 law. In making this determination, a district court shall

14 not be bound by the choice of law rules of any State, and

15 the factors that the court may consider in choosing the

16 applicable law include—

17 ‘‘(1) the place of the injury;

18 ‘‘(2) the place of the conduct causing the in19 jury;

20 ‘‘(3) the principal places of business or

21 domiciles of the parties;

22 ‘‘(4) the danger of creating unnecessary incen23 tives for forum shopping; and

24 ‘‘(5) whether the choice of law would be reason25 ably foreseeable to the parties.
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1 The factors set forth in paragraphs (1) through (5) shall

2 be evaluated according to their relative importance with

3 respect to the particular action. If good cause is shown

4 in exceptional cases, including constitutional reasons, the

5 court may allow the law of more than one State to be ap6 plied with respect to a party, claim, or other element of

7 an action.

8 ‘‘(b) ORDER DESIGNATING CHOICE OF LAW.—The

9 district court making the determination under subsection

10 (a) shall enter an order designating the single jurisdiction

11 whose substantive law is to be applied in all other actions

12 under section 1369 arising from the same accident as that

13 giving rise to the action in which the determination is

14 made. The substantive law of the designated jurisdiction

15 shall be applied to the parties and claims in all such ac16 tions before the court, and to all other elements of each

17 action, except where Federal law applies or the order spe18 cifically provides for the application of the law of another

19 jurisdiction with respect to a party, claim, or other ele20 ment of an action.

21 ‘‘(c) CONTINUATION OF CHOICE OF LAW AFTER RE22 MAND.—In an action remanded to another district court

23 or a State court under section 1407(j)(1) or 1441(e)(2)

24 of this title, the district court’s choice of law under sub25 section (b) shall continue to apply.’’.
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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of

2 sections at the beginning of chapter 111 of title 28,

3 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

4 end the following new item:

‘‘1660. Choice of law in multiparty, multiforum actions.’’.

5 (f) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—

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

7 113 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by

8 adding at the end the following new section:

9 ‘‘§ 1697. Service in multiparty, multiforum actions

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

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

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

13 the United States, or anywhere outside the United States

14 if otherwise permitted by law.’’.

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

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

17 amended by adding at the end the following new

18 item:

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

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

20 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by add21 ing at the end the following new section:

22 ‘‘§ 1785. Subpoenas in multiparty, multiforum actions

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

24 in whole or in part upon section 1369 of this title, a sub-
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1 poena for attendance at a hearing or trial may, if author2 ized by the court upon motion for good cause shown, and

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

4 be served at any place within the United States, or any5 where outside the United States if otherwise permitted by

6 law.’’.

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

8 chapter 117 of title 28, United States Code, is

9 amended by adding at the end the following new

10 item:

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

11 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

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

13 2 shall apply to any civil action pending on or brought

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

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

16 3 shall apply to a civil action if the accident giving rise

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

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Æ