Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5258 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5258

  To amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to improve
            attorney accountability, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 10, 2025

   Mr. Collins (for himself, Mr. Gill of Texas, Mr. Tiffany, and Ms.
   Hageman) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to improve
            attorney accountability, 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 ``Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of
2025''.

SEC. 2. ATTORNEY ACCOUNTABILITY.

    (a) Sanctions Under Rule 11.--Rule 11(c) of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``may'' and inserting
        ``shall'';
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``Rule 5'' and all that
        follows through ``motion.'' and inserting ``Rule 5.''; and
            (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ``situated'' and all that
        follows through the end of the paragraph and inserting
        ``situated, and to compensate the parties that were injured by
        such conduct. Subject to the limitations in paragraph (5), the
        sanction shall consist of an order to pay to the party or
        parties the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred as a
        direct result of the violation, including reasonable attorneys'
        fees and costs. The court may also impose additional
        appropriate sanctions, such as striking the pleadings,
        dismissing the suit, or other directives of a non-monetary
        nature, or, if warranted for effective deterrence, an order
        directing payment of a penalty into the court.''.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act or an amendment made
by this Act shall be construed to bar or impede the assertion or
development of new claims, defenses, or remedies under Federal, State,
or local laws, including civil rights laws, or under the Constitution
of the United States.
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