District of Columbia Civil Enforcement Equality Act

Bill: 115-hr-4678
Sponsor: full_name: Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
Introduced: 2017-12-18
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: District of Columbia

Lawyers and legal services

Legal fees and court costs

Public contracts and procurement
Latest action: action_date: 2017-12-18
text: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-12-18
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>District of Columbia Civil Enforcement Equality Act</b></p> <p>This bill authorizes the District of Columbia government to enter into contingency fee arrangements with private attorneys for legal matters affecting the District.</p>

tv_txt: I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4678 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 18, 2017 Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform A BILL To permit the District of Columbia to make payments pursuant to contingency fee arrangements entered into by the Attorney General of the District of Columbia for the provision of legal services in claims and other legal matters affecting the interests of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the District of Columbia Civil Enforcement Equality Act . 2. Authorizing payments by District of Columbia pursuant to contingency fee arrangements for legal services (a) Authorization If the Attorney General of the District of Columbia enters into a contract with private counsel for the provision of legal services in claims and other legal matters affecting the interests of the District of Columbia and the contract includes a contingency fee arrangement, the District of Columbia may make payments pursuant to such arrangement without regard to whether the funds used for the payments are deposited in accounts of the District of Columbia or provided in an appropriation, notwithstanding any provision of title 31, United States Code, or any other law of the United States or the District of Columbia. (b) Conditions for contracts Any contract described in subsection (a) shall be subject to the requirements of the Procurement Practices Reform Act of 2010 (sec. 2–351.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code). The amount of the fee payable for legal services furnished under any such contract may not exceed the fee that counsel engaged in the private practice of law in the District of Columbia typically charges clients for furnishing similar legal services, as determined by the Attorney General of the District of Columbia. (c) Restriction The District of Columbia may not enter into a contingency fee arrangement in a claim or other legal matter seeking the recovery of Federal funds. (d) Definition In this section, a contingency fee arrangement means a provision in a contract described in subsection (a) under which the costs, expenses, and fees the private counsel charges for legal services are payable from the amount recovered. (e) Effective date This section shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2018 and each succeeding fiscal year.