119-hr1109

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1109 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1109

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for transparency and 
 oversight of third-party beneficiaries in civil actions.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 7, 2025

Mr. Issa (for himself, Mr. Collins, and Mr. Fitzgerald) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for transparency and 
 oversight of third-party beneficiaries in civil actions.

 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 Transparency Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY AND OVERSIGHT OF THIRD-PARTY BENEFICIARIES IN 
 CIVIL CASES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``

Sec. 1660. Third-party beneficiary disclosure
 ``

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection

    (b) , in any 
civil action, a party or any counsel of record for a party shall--
 ``

    (1) disclose in writing to the court and all other named 
 parties to the civil action the identity of any person (other 
 than counsel of record) that has a right to receive any payment 
 or thing of value that is contingent on the outcome of the 
 civil action or a group of actions of which the civil action is 
 a part; and
 ``

    (2) produce to the court and to each other named party to 
 the civil action, for inspection and copying, any agreement 
 creating a contingent right referred to in paragraph

    (1) , 
 including any ancillary agreement or document, except as 
 otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court.
 ``

    (b) Exception.--The requirements under subsection

    (a) shall not 
apply with respect to a person that has a right to receive payment 
described in subsection

    (a)

    (1) if the right to receive payment is 
solely--
 ``

    (1) the repayment of the principal of a loan;
 ``

    (2) the repayment of the principal of a loan plus 
 interest that does not exceed the higher of 7 percent or a rate 
 two times the annual average 30-year constant maturity Treasury 
 yield, as published by the Board of Governors of the Federal 
 Reserve System, for the year preceding the date on which the 
 relevant agreement was executed; or
 ``

    (3) the reimbursement of attorney's fees.
 ``
            (c) Timing.--The disclosures required by subsection

    (a) shall be 
made not later than the later of--
 ``

    (1) 10 days after the execution of any agreement 
 described in subsection

    (a)

    (2) ; or
 ``

    (2) the time of the filing of the action before the 
 court.
 ``
            (d) Duty To Correct.--A party or counsel of record that made a 
disclosure required by this section shall supplement or correct each 
such disclosure in a timely manner--
 ``

    (1) if such party or counsel of record learns that the 
 disclosure is or has become incomplete or incorrect in some 
 material respect, if the additional or corrective information 
 has not otherwise been made known to the other parties during 
 the discovery process or in writing; or
 ``

    (2) as ordered by the court.''.

    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 111 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``1660. Third-party beneficiary disclosure.''.

SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.

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