I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2880
To permit the prevailing party in a civil action in Federal court to recover
attorneys’ fees from the losing party.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 5, 1993
Mr. COX introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
A BILL
To permit the prevailing party in a civil action in Federal
court to recover attorneys’ fees from the losing party.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Loser Pays Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Reforming the civil justice system in the
United States is imperative if that system is to re-
main truly open and accessible to all Americans. De-
spite the fact that the United States is home to 70
percent of the world’s lawyers, Americans do not
have access to simple justice as do citizens of other
countries. Delays, over-crowded court dockets,
harassing suits designed to extort ‘‘settlements’’,
and increasingly costly proceedings have made it
nearly impossible for honest litigants to survive until
trial.
(2) Despite this enormous expenditure of time
and money, almost none of these cases will come to
trial. In over 96 percent of the cases that came to
an end in Federal court during 1992, the parties did
not get a single day of trial before a judge or jury.
The image of an honest judge or jury applying the
law to particular facts in order to determine who is
right is only that—imaginary.
(3) Cutting the costs and the length of civil
lawsuits is vitally necessary for consumers and busi-
nesses alike. They cannot afford the years of ex-
pense now necessary to maintain an honest case in
the current system. Until this problem is addressed,
America’s free enterprise system will continue to be
at risk.
(4) Awarding the prevailing party his or her at-
torneys’ fees in civil lawsuits will do much to end the
improper incentives for lawsuits that are inflating
litigation costs dramatically. It will give meritorious
plaintiffs the full measure of the damages they de-
serve, without deduction for the lawyers’ costs of
suit. And it will give defendants whose rights are
vindicated, often after years of wasted time and
money, a chance to be made whole.
SEC. 3. PAYMENT OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES.
(a) AWARD OF FEES.—The prevailing party in any
civil action brought in or removed to a court of the United
States shall be entitled to attorneys’ fees to the extent that
such party prevails on any position or claim advanced dur-
ing the action. Attorneys’ fees under this subsection shall
be paid by the nonprevailing party.
(b) RECORDS.—Attorneys’ fees may not be awarded
under subsection (a) unless counsel of record in the action
involved maintained accurate, complete records of hours
worked on the matters involved in the action, regardless
of the fee arrangement with his or her client.
(c) LIMITATION ON FEES.—The fee award under this
section shall not exceed the attorneys’ fees of the
nonprevailing party with respect to the particular position
or claim. If the nonprevailing party received services under
a contingent fee agreement, then the fee award to the pre-
vailing party shall not exceed the reasonable value of those
services, as determined by the court at the time the final
judgment is entered. In addition, the court may, in its dis-
cretion, limit the fees awarded under subsection (a) to the
extent that the court finds exceptional, unusual, and spe-
cial circumstances that make payment of such fees unjust.
(d) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term
‘‘prevailing party’’ means a party to an action who obtains
a favorable final judgment (other than by settlement), ex-
clusive of interest, on all or a portion of the claims as-
serted in the action.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall
take effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and shall not apply to any action or proceeding com-
menced before such effective date.
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