[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1768 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1768

To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow a judge to whom a case 
   is transferred to retain jurisdiction over certain multidistrict 
          litigation cases for trial, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 11, 2003

  Mr. Sensenbrenner (for himself, Mr. Smith of Texas, and Mr. Coble) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow a judge to whom a case 
   is transferred to retain jurisdiction over certain multidistrict 
          litigation cases for trial, 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 ``Multidistrict Litigation 
Restoration Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION.

     Section 1407 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the third sentence of subsection (a), by inserting 
        ``or ordered transferred to the transferee or other district 
        under subsection (i)'' after ``terminated''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i)(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and except as provided in 
subsection (j), any action transferred under this section by the panel 
may be transferred for trial purposes, by the judge or judges of the 
transferee district to whom the action was assigned, to the transferee 
or other district in the interest of justice and for the convenience of 
the parties and witnesses.
    ``(2) Any action transferred for trial purposes under paragraph (1) 
shall be remanded by the panel for the determination of compensatory 
damages to the district court from which it was transferred, unless the 
court to which the action has been transferred for trial purposes also 
finds, for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the 
interests of justice, that the action should be retained for the 
determination of compensatory damages.''.

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO MULTIPARTY, MULTIFORM TRIAL 
              JURISDICTION ACT OF 2002.

    (a) Multidistrict Litigation.--Section 1407 of title 28, United 
States Code, as amended by section 2 of this Act, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(j)(1) In actions transferred under this section when 
jurisdiction is or could have been based, in whole or in part, on 
section 1369 of this title, the transferee district court may, 
notwithstanding any other provision of this section, retain actions so 
transferred for the determination of liability and punitive damages. An 
action retained for the determination of liability shall be remanded to 
the district court from which the action was transferred, or to the 
State court from which the action was removed, for the determination of 
damages, other than punitive damages, unless the court finds, for the 
convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice, 
that the action should be retained for the determination of damages.
    ``(2) Any remand under paragraph (1) shall not be effective until 
60 days after the transferee court has issued an order determining 
liability and has certified its intention to remand some or all of the 
transferred actions for the determination of damages. An appeal with 
respect to the liability determination and the choice of law 
determination of the transferee court may be taken during that 60-day 
period to the court of appeals with appellate jurisdiction over the 
transferee court. In the event a party files such an appeal, the remand 
shall not be effective until the appeal has been finally disposed of. 
Once the remand has become effective, the liability determination and 
the choice of law determination shall not be subject to further review 
by appeal or otherwise.
    ``(3) An appeal with respect to determination of punitive damages 
by the transferee court may be taken, during the 60-day period 
beginning on the date the order making the determination is issued, to 
the court of appeals with jurisdiction over the transferee court.
    ``(4) Any decision under this subsection concerning remand for the 
determination of damages shall not be reviewable by appeal or 
otherwise.
    ``(5) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the authority of 
the transferee court to transfer or dismiss an action on the ground of 
inconvenient forum.''.
    (b) Basis of Jurisdiction.--Section 1369 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended in subsections (a) and (c)(4), by striking ``75'' and 
inserting ``25''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) Sections 2 and 3(b).-- The amendments made by section 2 and 
section 3(b) shall apply to any civil action pending on or brought on 
or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Section 3(a).--The amendments made by section 3(a) shall be 
effective as if enacted in section 11020(b) of the Multiparty, 
Multiforum Trial Jurisdiction Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-273; 116 
Stat. 1826 et seq.).
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