Bill SponsorBILLSPONSOR
Bill Sponsor
Politicians
Bills
House Bill 720
115th Congress(2017-2018)
Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2017
Active
Amendments
Active
Passed House on Mar 10, 2017
Overview
Text
Introduced
Jan 30, 2017
Latest Action
Mar 13, 2017
Origin Chamber
House
Type
Bill
Bill
The primary form of legislative measure used to propose law. Depending on the chamber of origin, bills begin with a designation of either H.R. or S. Joint resolution is another form of legislative measure used to propose law.
Bill Number
720
Congress
115
Policy Area
Law
Law
Primary focus of measure is matters affecting civil actions and administrative remedies, courts and judicial administration, general constitutional issues, dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration. Measures concerning specific constitutional amendments may fall under the policy area relevant to the subject matter of the amendment (e.g., Education). Measures concerning criminal procedure and law enforcement may fall under Crime and Law Enforcement policy area.
Sponsorship by Party
Republican
Lamar Smith
Texas
Republican
Trent Franks
Arizona
Republican
Ken Buck
Colorado
Republican
Steve Chabot
Ohio
Republican
Blake Farenthold
Texas
Republican
Pete Sessions
Texas
Republican
Jason Chaffetz
Utah
Republican
Bob Goodlatte
Virginia
House Votes (2)
Senate Votes (0)
Question
On Passage
Status
Passed
Type
Roll Call Vote
Roll Call Vote
A vote that records the individual position of each Member who voted. Such votes occurring on the House floor (by the "yeas and nays" or by "recorded vote") are taken by electronic device. The Senate has no electronic voting system; in such votes, Senators answer "yea" or "nay" as the clerk calls each name aloud. Each vote is compiled by clerks and receives a roll call number (referenced in Congress.gov as a "Record Vote" [Senate] or "Roll no." [House]).
Roll Call Type
Recorded Vote
Roll Number
158
House Roll Call Votes
Summary

Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2017

This bill amends the sanctions provisions in Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to require the court to impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that has violated, or is responsible for the violation of, the rule with regard to representations to the court. Any sanction must compensate parties injured by the conduct in question.

The bill removes a provision that prohibits filing a motion for sanctions if the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention, or denial is withdrawn or appropriately corrected within 21 days after service or within another time the court sets.

Courts may impose additional sanctions, including striking the pleadings, dismissing the suit, nonmonetary directives, or penalty payments if warranted for effective deterrence.

Text (4)
Referred in Senate
March 13, 2017
Engrossed in House
March 10, 2017
Reported in House
February 24, 2017
Introduced in House
January 30, 2017
Amendments (4)
Mar 10, 2017
Not Agreed to in House
1
Sponsorship
House Amendment 79
Amendment sought to exempt actions pertaining to whistleblowers.
Active
Mar 10, 2017
Not Agreed to in House
1
Sponsorship
House Amendment 78
Amendment sought to exempt from the bill civil actions alleging any violation of a constitutional or civil right.
Active
Mar 10, 2017
Not Agreed to in House
1
Sponsorship
House Amendment 77
Amendment sought to strike the provision mandating the award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs, restoring judicial discretion to award such fees and costs, when warranted.
Active
Mar 10, 2017
Not Agreed to in House
1
Sponsorship
House Amendment 76
Amendment sought to reinstate the safe harbor provisions to allow parties to avoid penalties by withdrawing or correcting the claims within 14 days from when the alleged violation of rule 11(b) becomes known, anytime up until the end of the discovery period.
Active
Related Bills (2)
Mar 09, 2017
Passed House
1
Sponsorship
House Simple Resolution 180
Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 720) to amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to improve attorney accountability, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 985) to amend the procedures used in Federal court class actions and multidistrict litigation proceedings to assure fairer, more efficient outcomes for claimants and defendants, and for other purposes.
Active
Type
Related Bill
Related Bill
A related bill may be a companion measure, an identical bill, a procedurally-related measure, or one with text similarities. Bill relationships are identified by the House, the Senate, or CRS, and refer only to same-Congress measures.
Identified By
House
Jan 30, 2017
Introduced in Senate
2
Sponsorship
Senate Bill 237
Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2017
Introduced
Type
Identical Bill
Identical Bill
A bill that is word-for-word identical to another bill. Bills are characterized as identical to each other at the introduced stage only, even though a later (e.g., reported or passed) version of a bill might meet the same criteria for text similarity. Companion measures, procedurally-related measures, and legislation with text similarities are other related bill types.
Identified By
CRS
Public Record
Record Updated
Jan 11, 2023 1:34:15 PM
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