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H.R.720 - Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2017115th Congress (2017-2018) |

Bill

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Sponsor: Rep. Smith, Lamar [R-TX-21] (Introduced 01/30/2017)
Committees: House - Judiciary | Senate - Judiciary
Committee Reports: H. Rept. 115-16
Latest Action: Senate - 03/13/2017 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.  (All Actions)
Roll Call Votes: There have been 6 roll call votes

Tracker:

This bill has the status Passed House

Here are the steps for Status of Legislation:

  1. Introduced
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  4. To President
  5. Became Law

More on This Bill

  • Constitutional Authority Statement
  • CBO Cost Estimates [1]

Subject — Policy Area:

Summary: H.R.720 — 115th Congress (2017-2018)All Information (Except Text)

Bill summaries are authored by CRS.

Shown Here:
Passed House without amendment (03/10/2017)

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House reported version is repeated here.)

Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2017

(Sec. 2) 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that prohibits filing a motion for sanctions if the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention, or denial is withdrawn or appropriately corrected within 21 days after service or within another time the court sets.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.