HR 4430 · 108th Congress 2003–2005, ended

Legal Expense Equity Act of 2004

Introduced May 20, 2004 Originated House Sponsor Chris Chocola R-IN

Fact sheet Spreadsheet

Latest action · Jun 28, 2004 Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedMay 20, 2004
  2. Passed HouseNot reached
  3. Passed SenateNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Legal Expense Equity Act of 2004 - Amends the Federal judicial code to authorize parties in civil diversity litigation to serve written settlement offers on an adverse party at any time not less than 10 days before trial.

Authorizes the court, at any time before judgment is entered, to exempt from settlement any claim that presents a novel and important question of law or fact that substantially affects nonparties. Voids all settlement offers made by the parties with respect to such exempted claims.

Authorizes an offeror whose proposed settlement was declined by an offeree to file a petition with the court seeking payment by the offeree of costs and fees, including attorney's fees, from the date of the last settlement offer by either party if the ultimate judgment or order is not more favorable to the offeree than the proposed settlement. Requires the court to order payment by the offeree in such circumstances unless requiring payment would be manifestly unjust.

Limits attorney's fees ordered under this Act to: (1) the actual attorney's fees incurred by the offeree in connection with the claim; or (2) if no such cost was incurred due to a contingency fee agreement, a reasonable cost that would have been incurred by the offeree absent a contingency fee agreement.

States that this Act does not apply to claims seeking equitable remedies.

Cosponsors 54

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 20, 2004 to Sep 7, 2004; 36 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
R-KYAnne M. NorthupOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-WYBarbara CubinOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-COBob BeauprezOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-MICandice S. MillerOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-GACharles W. NorwoodOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-FLDave WeldonOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-FLGinny Brown-WaiteOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-SCJ. Gresham BarrettOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-TXJeb HensarlingOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-AZJeff FlakeOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-SCJim DeMintOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-AZJohn B. ShadeggOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-MNJohn KlineOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-TXJohn R. CarterOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-OKJohn SullivanOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-PAJoseph R. PittsOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-COMarilyn N. MusgraveOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-INMark E. SouderOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-TXMichael C. BurgessOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-INMike PenceOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-MIMike RogersOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-MINick SmithOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-PAPatrick J. ToomeyOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-MIPeter HoekstraOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-CARandy (Duke) CunninghamOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-TXRandy NeugebauerOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-KYRon LewisOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-TXRon PaulOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-NMStevan PearceOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-IASteve KingOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-NYSue W. KellyOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-NCSue Wilkins MyrickOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-COThomas G. TancredoOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-OKTom ColeOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-MOW. Todd AkinOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-NCWalter B. JonesOriginalMay 20, 2004
R-IDC. L. (Butch) OtterJun 17, 2004
R-TXMac ThornberryJun 17, 2004
R-OHMichael R. TurnerJun 17, 2004
R-ALTerry EverettJun 17, 2004
R-MIFred UptonJun 21, 2004
R-CAKen CalvertJun 21, 2004
R-TXHenry BonillaJun 24, 2004
R-GAJack KingstonJun 24, 2004
R-FLJeff MillerJun 24, 2004
R-TXKevin BradyJun 24, 2004
R-MIDave CampJul 9, 2004
R-FLJohn L. MicaJul 9, 2004
R-MNMark R. KennedyJul 9, 2004
R-NCRichard BurrJul 9, 2004
R-AZTrent FranksJul 9, 2004
R-MIJoe KnollenbergJul 13, 2004
R-MDRoscoe G. BartlettJul 13, 2004
R-TXLamar SmithSep 7, 2004

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

ChamberCommitteeWhat it did
HouseJudiciary Committee
Referred May 20, 2004
Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
Referred Jun 28, 2004

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Jun 28, 2004Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property.
  2. May 20, 2004Introduced in House
  3. May 20, 2004Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
S 1836Legal Expense Equity Act of 2003Identical billNov 6, 2003

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced
To amend chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, to provide for greater fairness in legal fees payable in civil diversity litigation after an offer of settlement.
Short Titles as Introduced
Legal Expense Equity Act of 2004

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Law.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. May 20, 2004Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.