IB 

Union Calendar No. 11 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 985 

[Report No. 115–25] 

To amend the procedures used in Federal court class actions and multidistrict 

litigation proceedings to assure fairer, more efficient outcomes for claimants and defendants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2017 

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

Committee on the Judiciary 

MARCH 7, 2017 

Additional sponsors: Mr. SESSIONS and Mr. GROTHMAN

MARCH 7, 2017 

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

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To amend the procedures used in Federal court class actions 

and multidistrict litigation proceedings to assure fairer, 

more efficient outcomes for claimants and defendants, 

and for other purposes. 


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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; REFERENCE; TABLE OF CON4 TENTS. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017’’. 

7 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever, in this Act, reference 

8 is made to an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or 

9 other provision, the reference shall be considered to be 

10 made to a section or other provision of title 28, United 

11 States Code. 

12 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

13 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; reference; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Purposes. 

Sec. 3. Class action procedures. 

Sec. 4. Misjoinder of plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death actions. 

Sec. 5. Multidistrict litigation proceedings procedures. 

Sec. 6. Rulemaking authority of Supreme Court and Judicial Conference. 

Sec. 7. Effective date. 

14 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

15 The purposes of this Act are to— 

16 (1) assure fair and prompt recoveries for class 

17 members and multidistrict litigation plaintiffs with 

18 legitimate claims; 

19 (2) diminish abuses in class action and mass 

20 tort litigation that are undermining the integrity of 

21 the U.S. legal system; and 


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1 (3) restore the intent of the framers of the 

2 United States Constitution by ensuring Federal 

3 court consideration of interstate controversies of na4 tional importance consistent with diversity jurisdic5 tion principles. 

6 SEC. 3. CLASS ACTION PROCEDURES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 114 is amended by in8 serting after section 1715 the following: 

9 ‘‘§ 1716. Class action injury allegations 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A Federal court shall not issue 

11 an order granting certification of a class action seeking 

12 monetary relief for personal injury or economic loss unless 

13 the party seeking to maintain such a class action affirma14 tively demonstrates that each proposed class member suf15 fered the same type and scope of injury as the named class 

16 representative or representatives. 

17 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION ORDER.—An order issued under 

18 Rule 23(c)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that 

19 certifies a class seeking monetary relief for personal injury 

20 or economic loss shall include a determination, based on 

21 a rigorous analysis of the evidence presented, that the re22 quirement in subsection (a) of this section is satisfied. 

23 ‘‘§ 1717. Conflicts of interest 

24 ‘‘(a) REQUIRED DISCLOSURES.—In a class action 

25 complaint, class counsel shall state whether any proposed 


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1 class representative or named plaintiff in the complaint 

2 is a relative of, is a present or former employee of, is a 

3 present or former client of (other than with respect to the 

4 class action), or has any contractual relationship with 

5 (other than with respect to the class action) class counsel. 

6 In addition, the complaint shall describe the circumstances 

7 under which each class representative or named plaintiff 

8 agreed to be included in the complaint and shall identify 

9 any other class action in which any proposed class rep10 resentative or named plaintiff has a similar role. 

11 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION OF CONFLICTS.—A Federal court 

12 shall not issue an order granting certification of any class 

13 action in which any proposed class representative or 

14 named plaintiff is a relative of, is a present or former em15 ployee of, is a present or former client of (other than with 

16 respect to the class action), or has any contractual rela17 tionship with (other than with respect to the class action) 

18 class counsel. 

19 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, ‘rel20 ative’ shall be defined by reference to section 3110(a)(3) 

21 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘§ 1718. Class member benefits 

23 ‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS TO CLASS MEM24 BERS.—A Federal court shall not issue an order granting 

25 certification of a class action seeking monetary relief unVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:10 Mar 07, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H985.RH H985

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1 less the class is defined with reference to objective criteria 

2 and the party seeking to maintain such a class action af3 firmatively demonstrates that there is a reliable and ad4 ministratively feasible mechanism (a) for the court to de5 termine whether putative class members fall within the 

6 class definition and (b) for distributing directly to a sub7 stantial majority of class members any monetary relief se8 cured for the class. 

9 ‘‘(b) ATTORNEYS’ FEES IN CLASS ACTIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) FEE DISTRIBUTION TIMING.—In a class 

11 action seeking monetary relief, no attorneys’ fees 

12 may be determined or paid pursuant to Rule 23(h) 

13 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or otherwise 

14 until the distribution of any monetary recovery to 

15 class members has been completed. 

16 ‘‘(2) FEE DETERMINATIONS BASED ON MONE17 TARY AWARDS.—Unless otherwise specified by Fed18 eral statute, if a judgment or proposed settlement in 

19 a class action provides for a monetary recovery, the 

20 portion of any attorneys’ fee award to class counsel 

21 that is attributed to the monetary recovery shall be 

22 limited to a reasonable percentage of any payments 

23 directly distributed to and received by class mem24 bers. In no event shall the attorneys’ fee award exVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:10 Mar 07, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H985.RH H985

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1 ceed the total amount of money directly distributed 

2 to and received by all class members. 

3 ‘‘(3) FEE DETERMINATIONS BASED ON EQUI4 TABLE RELIEF.—Unless otherwise specified by Fed5 eral statute, if a judgment or proposed settlement in 

6 a class action provides for equitable relief, the por7 tion of any attorneys’ fee award to class counsel that 

8 is attributed to the equitable relief shall be limited 

9 to a reasonable percentage of the value of the equi10 table relief, including any injunctive relief. 

11 ‘‘§ 1719. Money distribution data 

12 ‘‘(a) SETTLEMENT ACCOUNTINGS.—In any settle13 ment of a class action that provides for monetary benefits, 

14 the court shall order class counsel to submit to the Direc15 tor of the Federal Judicial Center and the Director of the 

16 Administrative Office of the United States Courts an ac17 counting of the disbursement of all funds paid by the de18 fendant pursuant to the settlement agreement. The ac19 counting shall state the total amount paid directly to all 

20 class members, the actual or estimated total number of 

21 class members, the number of class members who received 

22 payments, the average amount (both mean and median) 

23 paid directly to all class members, the largest amount paid 

24 to any class member, the smallest amount paid to any 

25 class member and, separately, each amount paid to any 


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1 other person (including class counsel) and the purpose of 

2 the payment. In stating the amounts paid to class mem3 bers, no individual class member shall be identified. No 

4 attorneys’ fees may be paid to class counsel pursuant to 

5 Rule 23(h) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure until 

6 the accounting has been submitted. 

7 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL SETTLEMENT DISTRIBUTION RE8 PORTS.—Commencing not later than 12 months after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Judicial Conference of 

10 the United States, with the assistance of the Director of 

11 the Federal Judicial Center and the Director of the Ad12 ministrative Office of the United States Courts, shall an13 nually prepare and transmit to the Committees on the Ju14 diciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives 

15 for public dissemination a report summarizing how funds 

16 paid by defendants in class actions have been distributed, 

17 based on the settlement accountings submitted pursuant 

18 to subsection (a). 

19 ‘‘§ 1720. Issues classes 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A Federal court shall not issue 

21 an order granting certification of a class action with re22 spect to particular issues pursuant to Rule 23(c)(4) of the 

23 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure unless the entirety of the 

24 cause of action from which the particular issues arise satVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:10 Mar 07, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H985.RH H985

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1 isfies all the class certification prerequisites of Rule 23(a) 

2 and Rule 23(b)(1), Rule 23(b)(2), or Rule 23(b)(3). 

3 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION ORDER.—An order issued under 

4 Rule 23(c)(4) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that 

5 certifies a class with respect to particular issues shall in6 clude a determination, based on a rigorous analysis of the 

7 evidence presented, that the requirement in subsection (a) 

8 of this section is satisfied. 

9 ‘‘§ 1721. Stay of discovery 

10 ‘‘In any class action, all discovery and other pro11 ceedings shall be stayed during the pendency of any mo12 tion to transfer, motion to dismiss, motion to strike class 

13 allegations, or other motion to dispose of the class allega14 tions, unless the court finds upon the motion of any party 

15 that particularized discovery is necessary to preserve evi16 dence or to prevent undue prejudice to that party. 

17 ‘‘§ 1722. Third-party litigation funding disclosure 

18 ‘‘In any class action, class counsel shall promptly dis19 close in writing to the court and all other parties the iden20 tity of any person or entity, other than a class member 

21 or class counsel of record, who has a contingent right to 

22 receive compensation from any settlement, judgment, or 

23 other relief obtained in the action. 


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1 ‘‘§ 1723. Appeals 

2 ‘‘A court of appeals shall permit an appeal from an 

3 order granting or denying class-action certification under 

4 Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. MISJOINDER OF PLAINTIFFS IN PERSONAL INJURY 

6 AND WRONGFUL DEATH ACTIONS. 

7 Section 1447 is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub9 section (e); 

10 (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub11 section (f); and 

12 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(d) MISJOINDER OF PLAINTIFFS IN PERSONAL IN15 JURY AND WRONGFUL DEATH ACTIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) This subsection shall apply to any civil ac17 tion in which— 

18 ‘‘(A) two or more plaintiffs assert personal 

19 injury or wrongful death claims; 

20 ‘‘(B) the action is removed on the basis of 

21 the jurisdiction conferred by section 1332(a); 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(C) a motion to remand is made on the 

24 ground that one or more defendants are citizens 

25 of the same State as one or more plaintiffs. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In deciding the remand motion in any such 

2 case, the court shall apply the jurisdictional require3 ments of section 1332(a) to the claims of each plain4 tiff individually, as though that plaintiff were the 

5 sole plaintiff in the action. 

6 ‘‘(3) The court shall sever the claims that do 

7 not satisfy the jurisdictional requirements of section 

8 1332(a) and shall remand those claims to the State 

9 court from which the action was removed. The court 

10 shall retain jurisdiction over the claims that satisfy 

11 the jurisdictional requirements of section 1332(a).’’. 

12 SEC. 5. MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION PROCEEDINGS PROCE13 DURES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 87 is amended by adding 

15 to section 1407 the following: 

16 ‘‘(i) ALLEGATIONS VERIFICATION.—In any coordi17 nated or consolidated pretrial proceedings conducted pur18 suant to subsection (b), counsel for a plaintiff asserting 

19 a claim seeking redress for personal injury whose civil ac20 tion is assigned to or directly filed in the proceedings shall 

21 make a submission sufficient to demonstrate that there 

22 is evidentiary support (including but not limited to medical 

23 records) for the factual contentions in plaintiff’s complaint 

24 regarding the alleged injury, the exposure to the risk that 

25 allegedly caused the injury, and the alleged cause of the 


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1 injury. The submission must be made within the first 45 

2 days after the civil action is transferred to or directly filed 

3 in the proceedings. That deadline shall not be extended. 

4 Within 30 days after the submission deadline, the judge 

5 or judges to whom the action is assigned shall enter an 

6 order determining whether the submission is sufficient and 

7 shall dismiss the action without prejudice if the submis8 sion is found to be insufficient. If a plaintiff in an action 

9 dismissed without prejudice fails to tender a sufficient 

10 submission within the following 30 days, the action shall 

11 be dismissed with prejudice. 

12 ‘‘(j) TRIAL PROHIBITION.—In any coordinated or 

13 consolidated pretrial proceedings conducted pursuant to 

14 subsection (b), the judge or judges to whom actions are 

15 assigned by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation 

16 may not conduct any trial in any civil action transferred 

17 to or directly filed in the proceedings unless all parties 

18 to the civil action consent to trial of the specific case 

19 sought to be tried. 

20 ‘‘(k) REVIEW OF ORDERS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Court of Appeals hav22 ing jurisdiction over the transferee district shall per23 mit an appeal to be taken from any order issued in 

24 the conduct of coordinated or consolidated pretrial 

25 proceedings conducted pursuant to subsection (b), 


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1 provided that an immediate appeal from the order 

2 may materially advance the ultimate termination of 

3 one or more civil actions in the proceedings. 

4 ‘‘(2) REMAND ORDERS.—Notwithstanding sec5 tion 1447(e), a court of appeals may accept an ap6 peal from an order issued in any coordinated or con7 solidated proceedings conducted pursuant to sub8 section (b) granting or denying a motion to remand 

9 a civil action to the State court from which it was 

10 removed if application is made to the court of ap11 peals within 14 days after the order is entered. 

12 ‘‘(l) ENSURING PROPER RECOVERY FOR PLAIN13 TIFFS.—The claimants in any civil action asserting a 

14 claim for personal injury transferred to or directly filed 

15 in coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings con16 ducted pursuant to subsection (b) shall receive not less 

17 than 80 percent of any monetary recovery obtained in that 

18 action by settlement, judgment or otherwise. The judge 

19 or judges to whom the coordinated or consolidated pretrial 

20 proceedings have been assigned shall have jurisdiction over 

21 any disputes regarding compliance with this require22 ment.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY OF SUPREME COURT 

2 AND JUDICIAL CONFERENCE. 

3 Nothing in this Act shall restrict in any way the au4 thority of the Judicial Conference and the Supreme Court 

5 to propose and prescribe general rules of practice and pro6 cedure under chapter 131 of title 28, United States Code. 

7 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 The amendments made by the Act shall apply to any 

9 civil action pending on the date of enactment of this Act 

10 or commenced thereafter. 


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Union Calendar No. 11 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 985 

[Report No. 115–25] 

A BILL 

To amend the procedures used in Federal court 

poses. for claimants and defendants, and for other purceedings to assure fairer, more efficient outcomes class actions and multidistrict litigation proMARCH 7, 2017 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS