IB 
Union Calendar No. 69
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 420
[Report No. 109–123] 
To amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to improve 
attorney accountability, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 26, 2005
Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself, Mr. DELAY, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. PAUL, Mr. 
GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. HERGER, Mr. KELLER, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. 
SHAYS, Mr. CANNON, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. 
NEUGEBAUER, Mr. CHOCOLA, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. 
FORBES, Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. GAR-
RETT of New Jersey, Mr. LEACH, Mr. KLINE, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. 
OTTER, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mrs. 
MYRICK, Mr. MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, 
Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. WILSON of 
South Carolina, Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. 
FORTUN˜O, Mr. KIRK, and Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
JUNE 14, 2005
Additional sponsors: Mr. SOUDER, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. 
LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. COX, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. BARTLETT of Mary-
land, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. NEY, Mr. MCHENRY, Mrs. CUBIN, Ms. 
GINNY
BROWN-WAITE
of Florida, Mr. ROGERS
of Michigan, Mr. 
HENSARLING, Mr. AKIN, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, 
Mr. BACHUS, and Mr. PUTNAM 
JUNE 14, 2005
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 26, 2005] 
A BILL 
To amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 
to improve attorney accountability, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Lawsuit Abuse Reduc-
tion Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. ATTORNEY ACCOUNTABILITY. 
Rule 11(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is 
amended—
(1) by amending the first sentence to read as fol-
lows: ‘‘If a pleading, motion, or other paper is signed 
in violation of this rule, the court, upon motion or 
upon its own initiative, shall impose upon the attor-
ney, law firm, or parties that have violated this sub-
division or are responsible for the violation, an ap-
propriate sanction, which may include an order to 
pay the other party or parties for the reasonable ex-
penses incurred as a direct result of the filing of the 
pleading, motion, or other paper, that is the subject
of the violation, including a reasonable attorney’s 
fee.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)(A)—
(A) by striking ‘‘Rule 5’’ and all that fol-
lows through ‘‘corrected.’’ and inserting ‘‘Rule 
5.’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘the court may award’’ and 
inserting ‘‘the court shall award’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘shall be lim-
ited to what is sufficient’’ and all that follows through 
the end of the paragraph (including subparagraphs 
(A) and (B)) and inserting ‘‘shall be sufficient to 
deter repetition of such conduct or comparable con-
duct by others similarly situated, and to compensate 
the parties that were injured by such conduct. The 
sanction may consist of an order to pay to the party 
or parties the amount of the reasonable expenses in-
curred as a direct result of the filing of the pleading, 
motion, or other paper that is the subject of the viola-
tion, including a reasonable attorney’s fee.’’. 
SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY OF RULE 11 TO STATE CASES AF-
FECTING INTERSTATE COMMERCE. 
In any civil action in State court, the court, upon mo-
tion, shall determine within 30 days after the filing of such 
motion whether the action substantially affects interstate
commerce. Such court shall make such determination based 
on an assessment of the costs to the interstate economy, in-
cluding the loss of jobs, were the relief requested granted. 
If the court determines such action substantially affects 
interstate commerce, the provisions of Rule 11 of the Fed-
eral Rules of Civil Procedure shall apply to such action. 
SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF FORUM-SHOPPING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a personal 
injury claim filed in State or Federal court may be filed 
only in the State and, within that State, in the county (or 
Federal district) in which—
(1) the person bringing the claim, including an 
estate in the case of a decedent and a parent or 
guardian in the case of a minor or incompetent—
(A) resides at the time of filing; or 
(B) resided at the time of the alleged injury; 
(2) the alleged injury or circumstances giving 
rise to the personal injury claim allegedly occurred; 
(3) the defendant’s principal place of business is 
located, if the defendant is a corporation; or 
(4) the defendant resides, if the defendant is an 
individual. 
(b) 
DETERMINATION
OF
MOST
APPROPRIATE 
FORUM.—If a person alleges that the injury or cir-
cumstances giving rise to the personal injury claim oc-
curred in more than one county (or Federal district), the 
trial court shall determine which State and county (or Fed-
eral district) is the most appropriate forum for the claim. 
If the court determines that another forum would be the 
most appropriate forum for a claim, the court shall dismiss 
the claim. Any otherwise applicable statute of limitations 
shall be tolled beginning on the date the claim was filed 
and ending on the date the claim is dismissed under this 
subsection. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘personal injury claim’’—
(A) means a civil action brought under 
State law by any person to recover for a person’s 
personal injury, illness, disease, death, mental or 
emotional injury, risk of disease, or other injury, 
or the costs of medical monitoring or surveillance 
(to the extent such claims are recognized under 
State law), including any derivative action 
brought on behalf of any person on whose injury 
or risk of injury the action is based by any rep-
resentative party, including a spouse, parent, 
child, or other relative of such person, a guard-
ian, or an estate; and 
(B) does not include a claim brought as a 
class action.
(2) The term ‘‘person’’ means any individual, 
corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, 
society, joint stock company, or any other entity, but 
not any governmental entity. 
(3) The term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Co-
lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and any other 
territory or possession of the United States. 
(d) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to any per-
sonal injury claim filed in Federal or State court on or 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in section 3 or in the amendments made by 
section 2 shall be construed to bar or impede the assertion 
or development of new claims or remedies under Federal, 
State, or local civil rights law. 
SEC. 6. THREE-STRIKES RULE FOR SUSPENDING ATTOR-
NEYS WHO COMMIT MULTIPLE RULE 11 VIO-
LATIONS. 
(a) MANDATORY SUSPENSION.—Whenever a Federal 
district court determines that an attorney has violated Rule 
11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court shall 
determine the number of times that the attorney has vio-
lated that rule in that Federal district court during that
attorney’s career. If the court determines that the number 
is 3 or more, the Federal district court—
(1) shall suspend that attorney from the practice 
of law in that Federal district court for 1 year; and 
(2) may suspend that attorney from the practice 
of law in that Federal district court for any addi-
tional period that the court considers appropriate. 
(b) APPEAL; STAY.—An attorney has the right to ap-
peal a suspension under subsection (a). While such an ap-
peal is pending, the suspension shall be stayed. 
(c) REINSTATEMENT.—To be reinstated to the practice 
of law in a Federal district court after completion of a sus-
pension under subsection (a), the attorney must first peti-
tion the court for reinstatement under such procedures and 
conditions as the court may prescribe. 
SEC. 7. PRESUMPTION OF RULE 11 VIOLATION FOR REPEAT-
EDLY RELITIGATING SAME ISSUE. 
Whenever a party attempts to litigate, in any forum, 
an issue that the party has already litigated and lost on 
the merits on 3 consecutive prior occasions, there shall be 
a rebuttable presumption that the attempt is in violation 
of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
SEC. 8. ENHANCED SANCTIONS FOR DOCUMENT DESTRUC-
TION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever influences, obstructs, or 
impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, a 
pending court proceeding through the intentional destruc-
tion of documents sought in, and highly relevant to, that 
proceeding—
(1) shall be punished with mandatory civil sanc-
tions of a degree commensurate with the civil sanc-
tions available under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of 
Civil Procedure, in addition to any other civil sanc-
tions that otherwise apply; and 
(2) shall be held in contempt of court and, if an 
attorney, referred to one or more appropriate State 
bar associations for disciplinary proceedings. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to any court 
proceeding in any Federal or State court that substantially 
affects interstate commerce.
Union Calendar No. 69
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 420
[Report No. 109–123] 
A BILL 
To amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil 
Procedure to improve attorney accountability, 
and for other purposes. 
JUNE 14, 2005
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed