SSHB 42: "An Act relating to civil liability for certain false or improper allegations in a civil pleading or for certain improper acts relating to a civil action; amending Rule 82(b), Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure; and providing for an effective date."
00SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 42 01 "An Act relating to civil liability for certain false or improper allegations in a 02 civil pleading or for certain improper acts relating to a civil action; amending 03 Rule 82(b), Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 09.65 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 09.65.190. Civil liability for false claims and improper practice. (a) 07 A person may not 08 (1) sign a civil complaint, answer, or other civil pleading that contains 09 false allegations that are material to the claims asserted in the civil action with the 10 intention of asserting allegations that are false; or 11 (2) sign a civil pleading before making reasonable inquiry and 12 determining that, to the best of the signer's knowledge, information, and belief, each 13 claim, defense, and allegation contained in the pleading is well grounded in fact and 14 is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification,
01 or reversal of existing law. 02 (b) If the trier of fact determines that a party to a civil action has knowingly 03 made a false statement of a material fact in connection with the prosecution or defense 04 of a civil action, the court shall enter judgment against the party making the false 05 statement on the issue to which the false statement relates. If the civil action involves 06 multiple claims and the false statement does not apply to all claims, the judgment 07 required under this subsection shall apply only to those claims to which the false 08 statement relates. 09 (c) A person may not, on the person's own behalf or as a representative of a 10 party, take part in the initiation, defense, continuation, or procurement of a civil action 11 against another person if the person acts 12 (1) without probable cause on a claim or defense; or 13 (2) primarily for a purpose other than that of securing the proper 14 adjudication of a claim or defense involved in the civil action. 15 (d) A party who is injured by a violation of 16 (1) paragraph (a)(1) of this section may bring an action for 17 compensatory and punitive damages against the person who signed the civil pleading; 18 (2) paragraph (a)(2) of this section may bring an action for recovery 19 of compensatory damages against the person who signed the pleading; compensatory 20 damages awarded under this paragraph may not exceed the actual reasonable costs and 21 attorney fees that were incurred by the party who was injured, but were not awarded 22 to that party in the action in which the violation of (a)(2) of this section occurred; and 23 (3) subsection (c) of this section may bring an action for compensatory 24 and punitive damages against the person who took part in the initiation, continuation, 25 defense, or procurement of the civil action. 26 (e) If a party brings an action under (d) of this section, the court shall award 27 actual reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party regardless of whether the 28 prevailing party is the plaintiff or defendant. 29 (f) A person may not bring a civil action to recover damages under 30 (1) subsections (c) or (d) of this section unless final judgment has been 31 entered in the civil action described in (a) or (c) of this section; and
01 (2) subsection (c) of this section unless 02 (A) in the civil action described in (a) or (c) of this section, a 03 notice of the specific conduct alleged to violate (a) or (c) of this section is 04 served on the opposing party as required under the Alaska Rules of Civil 05 Procedure, but not filed with the court; and 06 (B) the challenged conduct is not appropriately corrected within 07 21 days after notice is served. 08 (g) This section does not apply to an action 09 (1) brought by a person incarcerated by the state; 10 (2) involving divorce or dissolution; or 11 (3) involving adoption, custody, support, or visitation of a child. 12 (h) In this section, "civil pleading" includes motions and affidavits. 13 * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 14 to read: 15 INDIRECT COURT RULE AMENDMENT. AS 09.65.190(e), enacted in sec. 1 of this 16 Act, has the effect of amending Rule 82(b), Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, by allowing the 17 award of actual reasonable attorney fees in certain civil actions. 18 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 19 to read: 20 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to an action that accrues on or after the effective 21 date of this Act. 22 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 23 to read: 24 SEVERABILITY. Under AS 01.10.030, if any provision of this Act or the application 25 of a provision of this Act to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this 26 Act and the application to other persons shall not be affected. 27 * Sec. 5. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).