00 CS FOR SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 42(FIN) 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 Rules 79 and 82(b), Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure." 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, claims, or defenses that are false; 11  (2) initiate or sign a civil pleading before making reasonable inquiry 12 and forming a reasonable belief 13  (A) in the existence of the facts upon which the claim or 14 defense is based; and 01  (B) that, under the facts described in (A) of this paragraph, the 02 claim or defense is valid under the applicable law; or 03  (3) participate as a party or as a representative of a party in the 04 continuation of a claim or defense after the person discovers that the claim or defense 05 is not 06  (A) supported by a reasonable basis in fact; or 07  (B) valid under applicable law. 08  (b) If the trier of fact determines that a party to a civil action intentionally 09 made a false statement of a material fact in connection with the prosecution or defense 10 of a civil action, the court shall dismiss the claim or defense to which the false 11 statement relates. If the civil action involves multiple claims or defenses and the false 12 statement does not apply to all claims or defenses, the dismissal required under this 13 subsection shall apply only to those claims or defenses to which the false statement 14 directly relates. 15  (c) The dismissal required by (b) of this section does not apply to a civil 16 action in which the court determines that dismissal would be unfair to the interests of 17 another person or party not involved in the wrongdoing. If the court determines that 18 dismissal as to a claim or defense would be unfair to another person or party not 19 involved in the wrongdoing, the court shall enter an order awarding monetary damages 20 against the party making the false statement in an amount sufficient to fairly 21 compensate the injured party for damages incurred and to deter others from similar 22 conduct. 23  (d) A party who is injured by a violation of 24  (1) paragraph (a)(1) of this section may bring an action for 25 compensatory and punitive damages against the person who signed the civil pleading; 26  (2) paragraph (a)(2) of this section may bring an action for recovery 27 of compensatory damages against the person who wrongfully initiated or signed the 28 pleading; 29  (3) paragraph (a)(3) of this section may bring an action for 30 compensatory damages against the person who wrongfully participates in the 31 continuation of a claim or defense. 01  (e) If a party brings an action under (d) of this section, the court shall award 02 actual reasonable attorney fees and actual reasonable costs to the prevailing party. 03  (f) A person may not bring a civil action to recover damages under (d) of this 04 section unless 05  (1) a notice of the specific conduct alleged to violate (a) of this section, 06 with any supporting evidence, was served on the opposing party as required under the 07 Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, but not filed with the court; 08  (2) the challenged conduct was not appropriately corrected within 21 09 days after the notice described in (1) of this subsection was served; 10  (3) the person prevailed on the claim or defense that was the basis for 11 the notice described under (1) of this subsection; and 12  (4) final judgment has been entered in the civil action described in (a) 13 of this section. 14  (g) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit a good faith 15 argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law. 16  (h) This section does not apply to an action 17  (1) brought by a person incarcerated by the state; 18  (2) involving divorce or dissolution; 19  (3) involving adoption, custody, support, or visitation of a child; 20  (4) filed as a small claims action; or 21  (5) involving children in need of aid under AS 47.10. 22  (i) In this section, "civil pleading" includes motions and affidavits by a party 23 to the civil action. 24 * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 25 to read: 26 INDIRECT COURT RULE AMENDMENT. AS 09.65.190(e), enacted in sec. 1 of this 27 Act, has the effect of amending Rule 79, Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, by allowing the 28 award of actual reasonable costs in certain civil actions. 29 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 30 to read: 31 INDIRECT COURT RULE AMENDMENT. AS 09.65.190(e), enacted in sec. 1 of this 01 Act, has the effect of amending Rule 82(b), Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, by allowing the 02 award of actual reasonable attorney fees in certain civil actions. 03 * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 04 to read: 05 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to an act or omission described under 06 AS 09.65.190, added by sec. 1 of this Act, that occurs on or after the effective date of this 07 Act. 08 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 09 to read: 10 SEVERABILITY. Under AS 01.10.030, if any provision of this Act or the application 11 of a provision of this Act to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this 12 Act and the application to other persons shall not be affected.