I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 988
To reform the Federal civil justice system.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 16, 1995
Mr. MOORHEAD (for himself, Mr. HYDE, and Mr. GOODLATTE) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To reform the Federal civil justice system.
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 ‘‘Attorney Accountabil-
ity Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. AWARD OF ATTORNEY’S FEE TO PREVAILING PARTY
IN FEDERAL CIVIL DIVERSITY LITIGATION.
Section 1332 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(e)(1) The district court that exercises jurisdiction
in a civil action commenced under this section shall award
to the party that prevails with respect to a claim in the
action an attorney’s fee determined in accordance with
paragraph (2). A party shall be deemed to prevail with
respect to a claim in an action if—
‘‘(A) a judgment, verdict, or order issued by the
court that is in that party’s favor with respect to
that claim has become final, and that judgment, ver-
dict, or order is more favorable than any offer of
judgment that was made on that claim pursuant to
Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and
was not accepted; or
‘‘(B) that party made an offer of judgment on
that claim pursuant to Rule 68 of the Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure that was not accepted, and a
judgment, verdict, or order issued thereafter by the
court that has become final is in another party’s
favor with respect to that claim but is less favorable
than the offer of judgment.
‘‘(2) An attorney’s fee awarded under paragraph (1)
with respect to a claim shall be a reasonable attorney’s
fee attributable to the claim, calculated on the basis of
an hourly rate which may not exceed that which the court
considers acceptable in the community in which the attor-
ney practices law, taking into account the attorney’s quali-
fications and experience and the complexity of the case,
except that the fee awarded under paragraph (1) may not
exceed—
‘‘(A) 
the 
actual 
cost 
incurred 
by 
the
nonprevailing party for an attorney’s fee payable to
an attorney for services in connection with the claim;
or
‘‘(B) if no such cost was incurred by the
nonprevailing party due to a contingency fee agree-
ment, a reasonable cost that would have been in-
curred by the nonprevailing party for an attorney’s
noncontingent fee payable to an attorney for services
in connection with the claim.
‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), the
court in its discretion may refuse to award, or may reduce
the amount awarded as, an attorney’s fee under paragraph
(1) to the extent that the court finds special circumstances
that make an award of an attorney’s fee determined in
accordance with paragraph (1) unjust or inequitable.’’.
SEC. 3. HONESTY IN EVIDENCE.
Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence (28 U.S.C.
App.) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) In general.’’ before
‘‘If’’, and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) Adequate basis for opinion. Testimony in
the form of an opinion by a witness that is based on sci-
entific knowledge shall be inadmissible in evidence unless
the court determines that such opinion—
‘‘(1) is scientifically valid and reliable;
‘‘(2) has a valid scientific connection to the fact
it is offered to prove; and
‘‘(3) is sufficiently reliable so that the probative
value of such evidence outweighs the dangers speci-
fied in rule 403.
‘‘(c) Disqualification. Testimony by a witness
who is qualified as described in subdivision (a) is inadmis-
sible in evidence if the witness is entitled to receive any
compensation contingent on the legal disposition of any
claim with respect to which the testimony is offered.
‘‘(d) Scope. Subdivision (b) does not apply to crimi-
nal proceedings.’’.
SEC. 4. ATTORNEY ACCOUNTABILITY.
(a) TRUTH IN ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—It is the sense
of the Congress that each State should require, under pen-
alty of law, each attorney admitted to practice law in such
State to disclose in writing, to any client with whom the
attorney has entered into a contingency fee agreement—
(1) the actual services performed for the client
in connection with such agreement, and