I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4571 

To amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to improve 

attorney accountability, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2004 

Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. FORBES, Mr. 

GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. GARRETT of 

New Jersey, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. DELAY, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. 

CULBERSON, Mr. KELLER, Mr. CARTER, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. CALVERT, and 

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

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 

to improve attorney accountability, and for 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 ‘‘Lawsuit Abuse Reduc5 tion Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ATTORNEY ACCOUNTABILITY. 

7 Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is 

8 amended— 
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1 (1) in subdivision (c)— 

2 (A) by amending the first sentence to read 

3 as follows: ‘‘If a pleading, motion, or other 

4 paper is signed in violation of this rule, the 

5 court, upon motion or upon its own initiative, 

6 shall impose upon the attorney, law firm, or 

7 parties that have violated this subdivision or are 

8 responsible for the violation, an appropriate 

9 sanction, which may include an order to the 

10 other party or parties to pay for the reasonable 

11 expenses incurred as a direct result of the filing 

12 of the pleading, motion, or other paper, that is 

13 the subject of the violation, including a reason14 able attorney’s fee.’’; 

15 (B) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

16 (i) by striking ‘‘Rule 5’’ and all that 

17 follows through ‘‘corrected.’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘Rule 5.’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘the court may award’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘the court shall award’’; and 

21 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘shall be 

22 limited to what is sufficient’’ and all that fol23 lows through the end of the paragraph (includ24 ing subparagraphs (A) and (B)) and inserting 

25 ‘‘shall be sufficient to deter repetition of such 
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1 conduct or comparable conduct by others simi2 larly situated, and to compensate the parties 

3 that were injured by such conduct. The sanc4 tion may consist of an order to pay to the party 

5 or parties the amount of the reasonable ex6 penses incurred as a direct result of the filing 

7 of the pleading, motion, or other paper that is 

8 the subject of the violation, including a reason9 able attorney’s fee.’’; and 

10 (2) by striking subdivision (d). 

11 SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY OF RULE 11 TO STATE CASES AF12 FECTING INTERSTATE COMMERCE. 

13 In any civil action in State court, the court, upon mo14 tion, shall determine within 30 days after the filing of such 

15 motion whether the action affects interstate commerce. 

16 Such court shall make such determination based on an 

17 assessment of the costs to the interstate economy, includ18 ing the loss of jobs, were the relief requested granted. If 

19 the court determines such action affects interstate com20 merce, the provisions of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of 

21 Civil Procedure shall apply to such action. 

22 SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF FORUM-SHOPPING. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a per24 sonal injury claim filed in State or Federal court may be 
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1 filed only in the State and, within that State, in the county 

2 (or Federal district) in which— 

3 (1) the person bringing the claim, including an 

4 estate in the case of a decedent and a parent or 

5 guardian in the case of a minor or incompetent— 

6 (A) resides at the time of filing; or 

7 (B) resided at the time of the alleged in8 jury; or 

9 (2) the alleged injury or circumstances giving 

10 rise to the personal injury claim allegedly occurred; 

11 or 

12 (3) the defendant’s principal place of business 

13 is located. 

14 (b) DETERMINATION OF MOST APPROPRIATE

15 FORUM.—If a person alleges that the injury or cir16 cumstances giving rise to the personal injury claim oc17 curred in more than one county (or Federal district), the 

18 trial court shall determine which State and county (or 

19 Federal district) is the most appropriate forum for the 

20 claim. If the court determines that another forum would 

21 be the most appropriate forum for a claim, the court shall 

22 dismiss the claim. Any otherwise applicable statute of limi23 tations shall be tolled beginning on the date the claim was 

24 filed and ending on the date the claim is dismissed under 

25 this subsection. 
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1 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) The term ‘‘personal injury claim’’— 

3 (A) means a civil action brought under 

4 State law by any person to recover for a per5 son’s personal injury, illness, disease, death, 

6 mental or emotional injury, risk of disease, or 

7 other injury, or the costs of medical monitoring 

8 or surveillance (to the extent such claims are 

9 recognized under State law), including any de10 rivative action brought on behalf of any person 

11 on whose injury or risk of injury the action is 

12 based by any representative party, including a 

13 spouse, parent, child, or other relative of such 

14 person, a guardian, or an estate; and 

15 (B) does not include a claim brought as a 

16 class action. 

17 (2) The term ‘‘person’’ means any individual, 

18 corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, 

19 society, joint stock company, or any other entity, but 

20 not any governmental entity. 

21 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of 

22 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

23 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and any other 

24 territory or possession of the United States. 
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1 (d) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to any per2 sonal injury claim filed in Federal or State court on or 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

5 Nothing in section 3 or in the amendments made by 

6 section 2 shall be construed to bar or impede the assertion 

7 or development of new claims or remedies under Federal, 

8 State, or local civil rights law. 

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