(3) restore the intent of the framers of the 
United States Constitution by ensuring Federal 
court consideration of interstate controversies of na-
tional importance consistent with diversity jurisdic-
tion principles. 
SEC. 3. CLASS ACTION PROCEDURES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 114 is amended by in-
serting after section 1715 the following: 
‘‘§ 1716. Class action injury allegations 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A Federal court shall not issue 
an order granting certification of a class action seeking 
monetary relief for personal injury or economic loss unless 
the party seeking to maintain such a class action affirma-
tively demonstrates that each proposed class member suf-
fered the same type and scope of injury as the named class 
representative or representatives. 
‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION ORDER.—An order issued under 
Rule 23(c)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that 
certifies a class seeking monetary relief for personal injury 
or economic loss shall include a determination, based on 
a rigorous analysis of the evidence presented, that the re-
quirement in subsection (a) of this section is satisfied. 
‘‘§ 1717. Conflicts of interest 
‘‘(a) REQUIRED DISCLOSURES.—In a class action 
complaint, class counsel shall state whether any proposed 
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class representative or named plaintiff in the complaint 
is a relative of, is a present or former employee of, is a 
present or former client of (other than with respect to the 
class action), or has any contractual relationship with 
(other than with respect to the class action) class counsel. 
In addition, the complaint shall describe the circumstances 
under which each class representative or named plaintiff 
agreed to be included in the complaint and shall identify 
any other class action in which any proposed class rep-
resentative or named plaintiff has a similar role. 
‘‘(b) PROHIBITION OF CONFLICTS.—A Federal court 
shall not issue an order granting certification of any class 
action in which any proposed class representative or 
named plaintiff is a relative of, is a present or former em-
ployee of, is a present or former client of (other than with 
respect to the class action), or has any contractual rela-
tionship with (other than with respect to the class action) 
class counsel. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, ‘rel-
ative’ shall be defined by reference to section 3110(a)(3) 
of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘§ 1718. Class member benefits 
‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS TO CLASS MEM-
BERS.—A Federal court shall not issue an order granting 
certification of a class action seeking monetary relief un-
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less the class is defined with reference to objective criteria 
and the party seeking to maintain such a class action af-
firmatively demonstrates that there is a reliable and ad-
ministratively feasible mechanism (a) for the court to de-
termine whether putative class members fall within the 
class definition and (b) for distributing directly to a sub-
stantial majority of class members any monetary relief se-
cured for the class. 
‘‘(b) ATTORNEYS’ FEES IN CLASS ACTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) FEE DISTRIBUTION TIMING.—In a class 
action seeking monetary relief, no attorneys’ fees 
may be determined or paid pursuant to Rule 23(h) 
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or otherwise 
until the distribution of any monetary recovery to 
class members has been completed. 
‘‘(2) FEE DETERMINATIONS BASED ON MONE-
TARY AWARDS.—Unless otherwise specified by Fed-
eral statute, if a judgment or proposed settlement in 
a class action provides for a monetary recovery, the 
portion of any attorneys’ fee award to class counsel 
that is attributed to the monetary recovery shall be 
limited to a reasonable percentage of any payments 
directly distributed to and received by class mem-
bers. In no event shall the attorneys’ fee award ex-
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ceed the total amount of money directly distributed 
to and received by all class members. 
‘‘(3) FEE DETERMINATIONS BASED ON EQUI-
TABLE RELIEF.—Unless otherwise specified by Fed-
eral statute, if a judgment or proposed settlement in 
a class action provides for equitable relief, the por-
tion of any attorneys’ fee award to class counsel that 
is attributed to the equitable relief shall be limited 
to a reasonable percentage of the value of the equi-
table relief, including any injunctive relief. 
‘‘§ 1719. Money distribution data 
‘‘(a) SETTLEMENT ACCOUNTINGS.—In any settle-
ment of a class action that provides for monetary benefits, 
the court shall order class counsel to submit to the Direc-
tor of the Federal Judicial Center and the Director of the 
Administrative Office of the United States Courts an ac-
counting of the disbursement of all funds paid by the de-
fendant pursuant to the settlement agreement. The ac-
counting shall state the total amount paid directly to all 
class members, the actual or estimated total number of 
class members, the number of class members who received 
payments, the average amount (both mean and median) 
paid directly to all class members, the largest amount paid 
to any class member, the smallest amount paid to any 
class member and, separately, each amount paid to any 
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other person (including class counsel) and the purpose of 
the payment. In stating the amounts paid to class mem-
bers, no individual class member shall be identified. No 
attorneys’ fees may be paid to class counsel pursuant to 
Rule 23(h) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure until 
the accounting has been submitted. 
‘‘(b) ANNUAL
SETTLEMENT
DISTRIBUTION
RE-
PORTS.—Commencing not later than 12 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Judicial Conference of 
the United States, with the assistance of the Director of 
the Federal Judicial Center and the Director of the Ad-
ministrative Office of the United States Courts, shall an-
nually prepare and transmit to the Committees on the Ju-
diciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives 
for public dissemination a report summarizing how funds 
paid by defendants in class actions have been distributed, 
based on the settlement accountings submitted pursuant 
to subsection (a). 
‘‘§ 1720. Issues classes 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A Federal court shall not issue 
an order granting certification of a class action with re-
spect to particular issues pursuant to Rule 23(c)(4) of the 
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure unless the entirety of the 
cause of action from which the particular issues arise sat-
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