[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 76 (Thursday, May 10, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2625]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. Tillis, and Mr. Cornyn):
  S. 2815. A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to increase 
transparency and oversight of third-party litigation funding in certain 
actions, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2815

       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 ``Litigation Funding 
     Transparency Act of 2018''.

     SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY AND OVERSIGHT OF THIRD-PARTY LITIGATION 
                   FUNDING IN CLASS ACTIONS.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 114 of title 28, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 1716. Third-party litigation funding disclosure

       ``(a) In General.--In any class action, class counsel 
     shall--
       ``(1) disclose in writing to the court and all other named 
     parties to the class action the identity of any commercial 
     enterprise, other than a class member or class counsel of 
     record, that has a right to receive payment that is 
     contingent on the receipt of monetary relief in the class 
     action by settlement, judgment, or otherwise; and
       ``(2) produce for inspection and copying, except as 
     otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, any agreement 
     creating the contingent right.
       ``(b) Timing.--The disclosure required by subsection (a) 
     shall be made not later than the later of--
       ``(1) 10 days after execution of any agreement described in 
     subsection (a)(2); or
       ``(2) the time of service of the action.''.
       (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of 
     sections for chapter 114 of title 28, United States Code, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:

``1716. Third-party litigation funding disclosure.''.

     SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND OVERSIGHT OF THIRD-PARTY LITIGATION 
                   FUNDING IN MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION.

       Section 1407 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as subsections 
     (h) and (i), respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
       ``(g)(1) In any coordinated or consolidated pretrial 
     proceedings conducted pursuant to this section, counsel for a 
     party asserting a claim whose civil action is assigned to or 
     directly filed in the proceedings shall--
       ``(A) disclose in writing to the court and all other 
     parties the identity of any commercial enterprise, other than 
     the named parties or counsel, that has a right to receive 
     payment that is contingent on the receipt of monetary relief 
     in the civil action by settlement, judgment, or otherwise; 
     and
       ``(B) produce for inspection and copying, except as 
     otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, any agreement 
     creating the contingent right.
       ``(2) The disclosure required by paragraph (1) shall be 
     made not later than the later of--
       ``(A) 10 days after execution of any agreement described in 
     paragraph (1)(B); or
       ``(B) the time the civil action becomes subject to this 
     section.''.

     SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

       The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any case 
     pending on or commenced after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act.
                                 ______