SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF ACT.
(a) GENERAL RULE.—This Act applies to any year
2000 claim brought after January 1, 1999, including any
appeal, remand, stay, or other judicial, administrative, or
alternative dispute resolution proceeding with respect to
such claim.
(b) NO NEW CAUSE OF ACTION CREATED.—Nothing
in this Act creates a new cause of action, and, except as
otherwise explicitly provided in this Act, nothing in this
Act expands any liability otherwise imposed or limits any
defense otherwise available under Federal or State law.
(c) EXCLUSION OF PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS.—
None of the provisions of this Act shall apply to any claim
based on personal injury, including any claim asserted by
way of claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, third-party claim,
or otherwise, that arises out of an underlying action for
personal injury.
(d) PREEMPTION OF STATE LAW.—Except as other-
wise provided in this Act, this Act supersedes State law
to the extent that it establishes a rule of law applicable
to a year 2000 claim that is inconsistent with State law.
(e) CERTAIN OTHER ACTIONS.—A person who is lia-
ble for damages, whether by settlement or judgment, in
a claim or civil action to which this Act does not apply
by reason of subsection (c) and whose liability, in whole
or in part, is the result of a year 2000 failure may pursue
any remedy otherwise available under Federal or State law
against the person responsible for that year 2000 failure
to the extent of recovering the amount of those damages.
Any such remedy shall not be subject to this Act.
TITLE 
I—UNIFORM 
PRE-
LITIGATION 
PROCEDURES
FOR YEAR 2000 ACTIONS
SEC. 101. NOTICE PROCEDURES TO AVOID UNNECESSARY
YEAR 2000 ACTIONS.
(a) NOTIFICATION PERIOD.—Before filing a year
2000 action, except an action that seeks only injunctive
relief, a prospective plaintiff shall send by certified mail
to each prospective defendant a written notice that identi-
fies, with particularity as to any year 2000 claim—
(1) any symptoms of any material defect alleged
to have caused harm or loss;
(2) the harm or loss allegedly suffered by the
prospective plaintiff;
(3) the facts that lead the prospective plaintiff
to hold such person responsible for both the defect
and the injury;
(4) the relief or action sought by the prospec-
tive plaintiff; and
(5) the name, title, address, and telephone
numbers of any individual who has authority to ne-
gotiate a resolution of the dispute on behalf of the
prospective plaintiff.
The notice under this subsection does not require descrip-
tions of technical specifications or other technical details
with respect to the material defect at issue. Except as pro-
vided in subsection (c), the prospective plaintiff shall not
commence an action in Federal or State court until the
expiration of 90 days after the date on which such notice
is received. Such 90-day period shall be excluded in the
computation of any applicable statute of limitations.
(b) RESPONSE TO NOTICE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after
receipt of the notice specified in subsection (a), each
prospective defendant shall send by certified mail
with return receipt requested to each prospective
plaintiff a written statement acknowledging receipt
of the notice and describing any actions it has taken
or will take by not later than 60 days after the end
of that 30-day period, to remedy the problem identi-
fied by the prospective plaintiff.
(2) INADMISSIBILITY.—A written statement re-
quired by this subsection is not admissible in evi-
dence, under Rule 408 of the Federal Rules of Evi-
dence or any analogous rule of evidence in any
State, in any proceeding to prove liability for, or the
invalidity of, a claim or its amount, or otherwise as
evidence of conduct or statements made in com-
promise negotiations.
(3) PRESUMPTIVE TIME OF RECEIPT.—For pur-
poses of paragraph (1), a notice under subsection
(a) is presumed to be received 7 days after it was
sent.
(c) FAILURE TO RESPOND.—If a prospective defend-
ant fails to respond to a notice provided pursuant to sub-
section (a) within the 30-day period specified in subsection
(b) or does not describe the action, if any, that the pro-
spective defendant has taken or will take to remedy the
problem identified by the prospective plaintiff within the
subsequent 60 days, the 90-day period specified in sub-
section (a) shall terminate at the end of that 30-day period
as to that prospective defendant and the prospective plain-
tiff may thereafter commence its action against that pro-
spective defendant.
(d) FAILURE TO PROVIDE NOTICE.—If a defendant
determines that a plaintiff has filed a year 2000 action
without providing the notice specified in subsection (a)
and without awaiting the expiration of the 90-day period
specified in subsection (a), the defendant may treat the
plaintiff’s complaint as such a notice by so informing the
court and the plaintiff in its initial response to the com-
plaint. If any defendant elects to treat the complaint as
such a notice—
(1) the court shall stay all discovery in the ac-
tion involving that defendant for the applicable time
period provided in subsection (a) or (c), as the case
may be, after filing of the complaint; and
(2) the time for filing answers and all other
pleadings shall be tolled during such applicable pe-
riod.
(e) EFFECT OF CONTRACTUAL WAITING PERIODS.—
In cases in which a contract or a statute enacted before
January 1, 1999, requires notice of nonperformance and
provides for a period of delay prior to the initiation of suit
for breach or repudiation of contract, the period of delay
provided in the contract or the statute is controlling over
the waiting period specified in subsections (a) and (d).
(f) SANCTION FOR FRIVOLOUS INVOCATION OF THE
STAY PROVISION.—In any action in which a defendant
acts pursuant to subsection (d) to stay the action, and
the court subsequently finds that the defendant’s assertion
that the suit is a year 2000 action was frivolous and made
for the purpose of causing unnecessary delay, the court
may award sanctions to opposing parties in accordance
with the provisions of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure or the equivalent applicable State rule.
(g) COMPUTATION OF TIME.—For purposes of this
section, the rules regarding computation of time shall be
governed by the applicable Federal or State rules of civil
procedure.
(h) SPECIAL RULE FOR CLASS ACTIONS.—For the
purpose of applying this section to a year 2000 action that
is maintained as a class action in Federal or State court,
the requirements of the preceding subsections of this sec-
tion apply only to named plaintiffs in the class action.
SEC. 102. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION TO AVOID
UNNECESSARY YEAR 2000 ACTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) At any time during the 90-
day period specified in section 101(a), either party may
request the other to use alternative dispute resolution. If,
based upon that request, the parties enter into an agree-
ment to use alternative dispute resolution, they may also
agree to an extension of the 90-day period.
(2) At any time after expiration of the 90-day period
specified in section 101(a), whether before or after the fil-
ing of a complaint, either party may request the other to
use alternative dispute resolution.
(b) PAYMENT OF MONEYS DUE.—If the parties re-
solve their dispute through alternative dispute resolution
as provided in subsection (a), the defendant shall pay all
moneys due within 30 days, unless another period of time
is agreed to by the parties or established by contract be-
tween the parties.
(c) FORECLOSURE OF FURTHER PROCEEDINGS ON
RESOLVED ISSUES.—Resolution of the issues by the par-
ties prior to litigation through negotiation or alternative
dispute resolution shall foreclose any further proceedings
with respect to those issues.
SEC. 103. PLEADING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) APPLICATION WITH RULES OF CIVIL PROCE-
DURE.—This section applies exclusively to year 2000
claims and, except to the extent that this section requires
additional information to be contained in or attached to
pleadings, nothing in this section is intended to amend or
otherwise supersede applicable rules of Federal or State
civil procedure.
(b) NATURE AND AMOUNT OF DAMAGES.—With re-
spect to any year 2000 claim that seeks the award of
money damages, the complaint shall state with particu-
larity the nature and amount of each element of damages,
and the factual basis for the damages calculation.
(c) MATERIAL DEFECTS.—With respect to any year
2000 claim in which the plaintiff alleges that a product
or service was defective, the complaint shall identify with
particularity the symptoms of the material defects and
shall state with particularity the facts supporting the con-
clusion that the defects are material.
(d) REQUIRED STATE OF MIND.—With respect to
any year 2000 claim as to which the plaintiff may prevail
only on proof that the defendant acted with a particular
state of mind, the complaint shall, with respect to each
element of the year 2000 claim, state with particularity
the facts giving rise to a strong inference that the defend-
ant acted with the required state of mind.
(e) MOTION TO DISMISS; STAY OF DISCOVERY.—
(1) DISMISSAL FOR FAILURE TO MEET PLEAD-
ING REQUIREMENTS.—In any year 2000 action, the
court shall, on the motion of any defendant, dismiss
the complaint without prejudice if the requirements
of subsection (a), (b), or (c) are not met with re-
spect to any year 2000 claim asserted therein.
(2) STAY OF DISCOVERY.—In any year 2000
action, all discovery shall be stayed during the pend-
ency of any motion to dismiss, unless the court finds
upon the motion of any party that particularized dis-
covery is necessary to preserve evidence or prevent
undue prejudice to that party.
(3) PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—During the pendency of
any stay of discovery entered pursuant to this
subsection, unless otherwise ordered by the
court, any party to the action with actual notice
of the allegations contained in the complaint
shall treat all documents, data compilations (in-
cluding electronically stored or recorded data),
and tangible objects that are in the custody or
control of such person and that are relevant to
the allegations, as if they were a subject of a
continuing request for production of documents
from an opposing party under applicable Fed-
eral or State rules of civil procedure.
(B) 
SANCTION
FOR
WILLFUL
VIOLA-
TION.—A party aggrieved by the willful failure
of an opposing party to comply with subpara-
graph (A) may apply to the court for an order
awarding appropriate sanctions.
SEC. 104. DUTY OF ALL PERSONS TO MITIGATE YEAR 2000
COMPUTER FAILURES AND RESULTING DAM-
AGES.
Damages awarded for any year 2000 claim shall ex-
clude compensation for damages the plaintiff could reason-
ably have avoided in light of any disclosure or other infor-
mation of which the plaintiff was, or reasonably should
have been, aware, including information made available by
the defendant to purchasers or users of the defendant’s
product or services concerning means of remedying or
avoiding the year 2000 failure.
TITLE II—YEAR 2000 ACTIONS
INVOLVING CONTRACTS
SEC. 201. CERTAINTY OF CONTRACT TERMS FOR PREVEN-
TION OF YEAR 2000 DAMAGES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), in re-
solving any year 2000 claim, any written contractual term,
including a limitation or an exclusion of liability, or a dis-
claimer of warranty, shall be fully enforced unless the en-
forcement of that term would manifestly and directly con-
travene applicable State law embodied in any statute in
effect on January 1, 1999, specifically addressing that
term.
(b) INTERPRETATION OF CONTRACT.—In resolving
any year 2000 claim as to which a contract to which sub-
section (a) applies is silent with respect to a particular
issue, the interpretation of the contract with respect to
that issue shall be determined by applicable law in effect
at the time the contract was executed.
SEC. 202. APPLICATION OF EXISTING IMPOSSIBILITY OR
COMMERCIAL 
IMPRACTICABILITY 
DOC-
TRINES.
(a) DOCTRINE OF IMPOSSIBILITY AND COMMERCIAL
IMPRACTICABILITY.—With respect to any year 2000 claim
for breach or repudiation of contract, the applicability of
the doctrines of impossibility and commercial imprac-
ticability shall be determined by the law in existence on
January 1, 1999. Nothing in this Act shall be construed
as limiting or impairing a party’s right to assert defenses
based upon such doctrines.
(b) REASONABLE EFFORTS.—To the extent that im-
possibility or commercial impracticability is raised as a de-
fense against a claim for breach or repudiation of contract,
the party asserting the defense shall be allowed to offer
evidence that its implementation of the contract, or its ef-
forts to implement the contract, were reasonable in light
of the circumstances.
SEC. 203. PROTECTION OF PERSONS FROM LIABILITY NOT
ANTICIPATED IN YEAR 2000 CONTRACTS.
With respect to any year 2000 claim involving a
breach of contract or a claim related to the contract, no
party may claim or be awarded any category of damages
unless such damages are allowed by the express terms of
the contract or, if the contract is silent on such damages,
by operation of the applicable Federal or State law that
governed interpretation of the contract at the time the
contract was entered into.
TITLE III—YEAR 2000 ACTIONS
INVOLVING TORT AND OTHER
NONCONTRACTUAL CLAIMS
SEC. 301. PROPORTIONATE LIABILITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A person against whom a final
judgment is entered with respect to a year 2000 claim,
other than a claim for breach or repudiation of contract,
shall be liable solely for the portion of the judgment that
corresponds to the percentage of responsibility of that per-
son, as determined under subsection (b).
(b) DETERMINATION OF RESPONSIBILITY.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—With respect to any year
2000 claim, the court shall instruct the jury to an-
swer special interrogatories, or if there is no jury,
shall make findings, with respect to each defendant
and plaintiff, and each of the other persons claimed
by any of the parties to have caused or contributed
to the loss incurred by the plaintiff, including (but
not limited to) persons who have entered into settle-
ments with the plaintiff or plaintiffs, concerning the
percentage of responsibility of the defendant, the
plaintiff, and each such person, measured as a per-
centage of the total fault of all persons who caused
or contributed to the total loss incurred by the plain-
tiff.