A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 3213, Restoring Court Authority Over Litigation Action of 2025 (Fitzgerald, Barr, and Meuser), would harm consumers by removing important protections against abusive litigation conduct by attorneys. This bill would:
- Eliminate all federal agency authority related to litigation activities by attorneys;
- Prohibit all civil lawsuits against attorneys in federal courts that are based on claims related to misconduct in litigation activities; and
- Amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to exempt collection attorneys engaged in litigation activities.
Congress amended the FDCPA in 1986 to prevent abusive collection practices by attorneys.
H.R. 3213 would protect attorneys who:
- Knowingly file fraudulent proof of claims in bankruptcy;
- Bring state judicial foreclosure proceedings without legal authority to do so;
- Engage in abusive collection practices in state courts, such as:
- Suing a consumer for a debt the consumer does not owe and filing false affidavits;
- Knowingly suing to collect a debt after the statute of limitations has run; and
- Filing lawsuits in distant courts to force consumers to travel far from home.
Other methods of regulating attorney misconduct have significant limitations:
- States may lack equivalent consumer protection laws, and state laws that are similar often exempt attorneys from coverage;
- Bar associations do not have the resources to respond to all allegations of litigation misconduct; and
- Courts rely on opposing counsel to raise claims of attorney misconduct, but consumers are frequently unrepresented and unfamiliar with court rules or how to use them.
H.R. 3213 would protect attorneys who engage in abusive litigation practices that hurt American consumers. We urge members of Congress to oppose this bill.
For more information, contact Senior Attorney April Kuehnhoff ([email protected]).
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