[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4678 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4678

    To permit the District of Columbia to make payments pursuant to 
 contingency fee arrangements entered into by the Attorney General of 
the District of Columbia for the provision of legal services in claims 
  and other legal matters affecting the interests of the District of 
                   Columbia, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 18, 2017

  Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To permit the District of Columbia to make payments pursuant to 
 contingency fee arrangements entered into by the Attorney General of 
the District of Columbia for the provision of legal services in claims 
  and other legal matters affecting the interests of the District of 
                   Columbia, 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 ``District of Columbia Civil 
Enforcement Equality Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZING PAYMENTS BY DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PURSUANT TO 
              CONTINGENCY FEE ARRANGEMENTS FOR LEGAL SERVICES.

    (a) Authorization.--If the Attorney General of the District of 
Columbia enters into a contract with private counsel for the provision 
of legal services in claims and other legal matters affecting the 
interests of the District of Columbia and the contract includes a 
contingency fee arrangement, the District of Columbia may make payments 
pursuant to such arrangement without regard to whether the funds used 
for the payments are deposited in accounts of the District of Columbia 
or provided in an appropriation, notwithstanding any provision of title 
31, United States Code, or any other law of the United States or the 
District of Columbia.
    (b) Conditions for Contracts.--Any contract described in subsection 
(a) shall be subject to the requirements of the Procurement Practices 
Reform Act of 2010 (sec. 2-351.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code). The 
amount of the fee payable for legal services furnished under any such 
contract may not exceed the fee that counsel engaged in the private 
practice of law in the District of Columbia typically charges clients 
for furnishing similar legal services, as determined by the Attorney 
General of the District of Columbia.
    (c) Restriction.--The District of Columbia may not enter into a 
contingency fee arrangement in a claim or other legal matter seeking 
the recovery of Federal funds.
    (d) Definition.--In this section, a ``contingency fee arrangement'' 
means a provision in a contract described in subsection (a) under which 
the costs, expenses, and fees the private counsel charges for legal 
services are payable from the amount recovered.
    (e) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to 
fiscal year 2018 and each succeeding fiscal year.
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