Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Multidistrict Litigation Restoration Act of 2005

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.

Technical amendment to multiparty, multiform trial jurisdiction Act of 2002

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.

Effective date

(a)

Section 2

The amendments made by section 2 shall apply to any civil action pending on or brought on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. (b)

Section 3

The amendment made by section 3 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.).