IIB

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2112

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 14, 1999

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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 1999’’.

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 $75,000 per person, exclusive of in19 terest 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) SPECIAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS.—For pur7 poses of this section—

8 ‘‘(1) minimal diversity exists between adverse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17 any State in which it is incorporated or licensed to

18 do business or is doing business;

19 ‘‘(3) the term ‘injury’ means—

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

21 and

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

23 tangible property, but only if physical harm de24 scribed in subparagraph (A) exists;
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1 ‘‘(4) the term ‘accident’ means a sudden acci2 dent, or a natural event culminating in an accident,

3 that results in death or injury incurred at a discrete

4 location by at least 25 natural persons; and

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

6 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and

7 any territory or possession of the United States.

8 ‘‘(c) INTERVENING PARTIES.—In any action in a dis9 trict court which is or could have been brought, in whole

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

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

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

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

14 a district court as an original matter.

15 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF JUDICIAL PANEL ON MULTI16 DISTRICT LITIGATION.—A district court in which an ac17 tion under this section is pending shall promptly notify

18 the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation of the pend19 ency of the action.’’.

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of

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

22 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

23 end the following new item:

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

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

25 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(g) A civil action in which jurisdiction of the district

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

3 brought in any district in which any defendant resides or

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

5 the action took place.’’.

6 (c) MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION.—Section 1407 of

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

8 this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing:

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

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

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

13 court may, notwithstanding any other provision of this

14 section, retain actions so transferred for the determination

15 of liability and punitive damages. An action retained for

16 the determination of liability shall be remanded to the dis17 trict court from which the action was transferred, or to

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

19 the determination of damages, other than punitive dam20 ages, unless the court finds, for the convenience of parties

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

22 should be retained for the determination of damages.

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

24 effective until 60 days after the transferee court has

25 issued an order determining liability and has certified its
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1 intention to remand some or all of the transferred actions

2 for the determination of damages. An appeal with respect

3 to the liability determination and the choice of law deter4 mination of the transferee court may be taken during that

5 60-day period to the court of appeals with appellate juris6 diction over the transferee court. In the event a party files

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

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

9 become effective, the liability determination and the choice

10 of law determination shall not be subject to further review

11 by appeal or otherwise.

12 ‘‘(3) An appeal with respect to determination of puni13 tive damages by the transferee court may be taken, during

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

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

16 jurisdiction over the transferee court.

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

18 remand for the determination of damages shall not be re19 viewable by appeal or otherwise.

20 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the au21 thority of the transferee court to transfer or dismiss an

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

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

24 United States Code, is amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (e) by striking ‘‘(e) The court

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

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

4 under this section’’; and

5 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol6 lowing new subsection:

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

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

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

10 United States for the district and division embracing the

11 place where the action is pending if—

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

13 United States district court under section 1369 of

14 this title; or

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

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

17 part, under section 1369 in a United States district

18 court and arises from the same accident as the ac19 tion in State court, even if the action to be removed

20 could not have been brought in a district court as

21 an original matter.

22 The removal of an action under this subsection shall be

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

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

25 the action in State court within 30 days after the date
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1 on which the defendant first becomes a party to an action

2 under section 1369 in a United States district court that

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

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

5 ‘‘(2) Whenever an action is removed under this sub6 section and the district court to which it is removed or

7 transferred under section 1407(j) has made a liability de8 termination requiring further proceedings as to damages,

9 the district court shall remand the action to the State

10 court from which it had been removed for the determina11 tion of damages, unless the court finds that, for the con12 venience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of

13 justice, the action should be retained for the determination

14 of damages.

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

16 effective until 60 days after the district court has issued

17 an order determining liability and has certified its inten18 tion to remand the removed action for the determination

19 of damages. An appeal with respect to the liability deter20 mination and the choice of law determination of the dis21 trict court may be taken during that 60-day period to the

22 court of appeals with appellate jurisdiction over the dis23 trict court. In the event a party files such an appeal, the

24 remand shall not be effective until the appeal has been

25 finally disposed of. Once the remand has become effective,
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1 the liability determination and the choice of law deter2 mination shall not be subject to further review by appeal

3 or otherwise.

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

5 remand for the determination of damages shall not be re6 viewable by appeal or otherwise.

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

8 be deemed to be an action under section 1369 and an ac9 tion in which jurisdiction is based on section 1368 of this

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

11 1697, and 1785 of this title.

12 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the au13 thority of the district court to transfer or dismiss an ac14 tion on the ground of inconvenient forum.’’.

15 (e) CHOICE OF LAW.—

16 (1) DETERMINATION BY THE COURT.—Chapter

17 111 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by

18 adding at the end the following new section:

19 ‘‘§ 1660. Choice of law in multiparty, multiforum ac20 tions

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

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

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

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

25 the applicable substantive law, except that if an action is
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1 transferred to another district court, the transferee court

2 shall determine the source of the applicable substantive

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

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

5 the factors that the court may consider in choosing the

6 applicable law include—

7 ‘‘(1) the place of the injury;

8 ‘‘(2) the place of the conduct causing the in9 jury;

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

11 domiciles of the parties;

12 ‘‘(4) the danger of creating unnecessary incen13 tives for forum shopping; and

14 ‘‘(5) whether the choice of law would be reason15 ably foreseeable to the parties.

16 The factors set forth in paragraphs (1) through (5) shall

17 be evaluated according to their relative importance with

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

19 in exceptional cases, including constitutional reasons, the

20 court may allow the law of more than one State to be ap21 plied with respect to a party, claim, or other element of

22 an action.

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

24 district court making the determination under subsection

25 (a) shall enter an order designating the single jurisdiction
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1 whose substantive law is to be applied in all other actions

2 under section 1369 arising from the same accident as that

3 giving rise to the action in which the determination is

4 made. The substantive law of the designated jurisdiction

5 shall be applied to the parties and claims in all such ac6 tions before the court, and to all other elements of each

7 action, except where Federal law applies or the order spe8 cifically provides for the application of the law of another

9 jurisdiction with respect to a party, claim, or other ele10 ment of an action.

11 ‘‘(c) CONTINUATION OF CHOICE OF LAW AFTER RE12 MAND.—In an action remanded to another district court

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

14 of this title, the district court’s choice of law under sub15 section (b) shall continue to apply.’’.

16 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of

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

18 United States Code, is amended by adding at the

19 end the following new item:

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

20 (f) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—

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

22 113 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by

23 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 September 13,

1999.

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.