[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 712 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 712

 To amend title 28, United States Code, to authorize the award of fees 
 and expenses to prevailing parties in frivolous civil litigation, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                April 7 (legislative day, April 5), 1995

   Mr. Bryan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 28, United States Code, to authorize the award of fees 
 and expenses to prevailing parties in frivolous civil litigation, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Frivolous Lawsuit Prevention Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. AWARD OF FEES AND EXPENSES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 123 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1932. Award of fees and expenses to prevailing party in 
              frivolous civil litigation
    ``(a) Authority To Award Fees and Expenses.--If the court in any 
civil action enters a final judgment against a party litigant on the 
basis of a default, a motion to dismiss, a motion for summary judgment, 
or a trial on the merits, the court shall, upon motion by the 
prevailing party, determine whether--
            ``(1) the complaint or motion is being presented for any 
        improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary 
        delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation;
            ``(2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions in 
        the complaint or motion, taken as a whole, are unwarranted by 
        existing law or by a good faith argument for the extension, 
        modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment 
        of new law;
            ``(3) the allegations and other factual contentions in the 
        complaint or motion, taken as a whole, lack any factual support 
        or would be likely to lack any factual support after a 
        reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery; 
        or
            ``(4) the denials of factual contentions are unwarranted in 
        light of the evidence or are not reasonably based on a lack of 
        information or belief.
    ``(b) Award to Prevailing Party.--
            ``(1) In general.--If the court determines that the losing 
        party has violated any provision of subsection (a), the court 
        shall impose an appropriate sanction against the attorney for 
        the losing party, which may include an order to pay the 
        prevailing party reasonable fees and other expenses incurred by 
        that party. The determination of whether the losing party 
        violated any such provision shall be made on the basis of the 
        record in the civil action for which fees and other expenses 
        are sought, but the burden of persuasion shall be on the 
        prevailing party.
            ``(2) Sanctions.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the 
        court--
                    ``(A) shall impose an appropriate sanction against 
                the losing party, which may include an order to pay 
                fees and expenses if the court determines that the 
                losing party was principally responsible for the 
                actions described in subsection (a); and
                    ``(B) may, in its discretion, reduce the amount to 
                be awarded pursuant to this section, or deny an award, 
                to the extent that the prevailing party during the 
                course of the proceedings engaged in conduct that 
                unduly and unreasonably protracted the final resolution 
                of the matter in controversy.
    ``(c) Application for Fees.--A party seeking an award of fees and 
other expenses shall, within 30 days of a final, nonappealable judgment 
in the action, submit to the court an application for fees and other 
expenses that verifies that the party is entitled to such an award 
under subsection (a) and the amount sought, including an itemized 
statement from any attorney or expert witness representing or appearing 
on behalf of the party, stating the actual time expended and the rate 
at which fees and other expenses are computed.
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to limit or impair the discretion of the court to award costs 
pursuant to other provisions of law.
    ``(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the term `fees 
and other expenses' includes the reasonable expenses of expert 
witnesses, the reasonable cost of any study, analysis, report, test, or 
project that is found by the court to be necessary for the preparation 
of the party's case, and reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses. The 
amount of fees awarded under this section shall be based upon 
prevailing market rates for the kind and quality of services 
furnished.''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 123 of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
item:

``1932. Award of fees and expenses to prevailing party in frivolous 
                            civil litigation.''.
                                 <all>