HB 86: "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."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 86 01 "An Act relating to civil liability for certain false or improper allegations in a civil 02 pleading or for certain improper acts relating to a civil action." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 09.65 is amended by adding a new section to read: 05 Sec. 09.65.280. Civil liability for false claims and improper practice. (a) 06 A person may not 07 (1) sign a civil complaint, answer, or other civil pleading that contains 08 false allegations that are material to the claims asserted in the civil action with the 09 intention of asserting allegations, claims, or defenses that are false; 10 (2) initiate or sign a civil pleading before making reasonable inquiry 11 and forming a reasonable belief 12 (A) in the existence of the facts upon which the claim or 13 defense is based; and 14 (B) that, under the facts described in (A) of this paragraph, the
01 claim or defense is valid under the applicable law; or 02 (3) participate as a party or as a representative of a party in the 03 continuation of a claim or defense after the person discovers that the claim or defense 04 is not 05 (A) supported by a reasonable basis in fact; or 06 (B) valid under applicable law. 07 (b) If the trier of fact determines that a party to a civil action intentionally 08 made a false statement of a material fact in connection with the prosecution or defense 09 of a civil action, the court shall dismiss the claim or defense to which the false 10 statement relates. If the civil action involves multiple claims or defenses and the false 11 statement does not apply to all claims or defenses, the dismissal required under this 12 subsection shall apply only to those claims or defenses to which the false statement 13 directly relates. 14 (c) The dismissal required by (b) of this section does not apply to a civil action 15 in which the court determines that dismissal would be unfair to the interests of another 16 person or party not involved in the wrongdoing. If the court determines that dismissal 17 as to a claim or defense would be unfair to another person or party not involved in the 18 wrongdoing, the court shall enter an order awarding monetary damages against the 19 party making the false statement in an amount sufficient to fairly compensate the 20 injured party for damages incurred and to deter others from similar conduct. 21 (d) A party who is injured by a violation of 22 (1) paragraph (a)(1) of this section may bring an action for 23 compensatory and punitive damages against the person who signed the civil pleading; 24 (2) paragraph (a)(2) of this section may bring an action for recovery of 25 compensatory damages against the person who wrongfully initiated or signed the 26 pleading; 27 (3) paragraph (a)(3) of this section may bring an action for 28 compensatory damages against the person who wrongfully participates in the 29 continuation of a claim or defense. 30 (e) If a party brings an action under (d) of this section, the court shall award 31 actual reasonable attorney fees and actual reasonable costs to the prevailing party.
01 (f) A person may not bring a civil action to recover damages under (d) of this 02 section unless 03 (1) a notice of the specific conduct alleged to violate (a) of this section, 04 with any supporting evidence, was served on the opposing party as required under the 05 Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, but not filed with the court; 06 (2) the challenged conduct was not appropriately corrected within 21 07 days after the notice described in (1) of this subsection was served; 08 (3) the person prevailed on the claim or defense that was the basis for 09 the notice described under (1) of this subsection; and 10 (4) final judgment has been entered in the civil action described in (a) 11 of this section. 12 (g) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit a good 13 faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law. 14 (h) This section does not apply to an action 15 (1) brought by a person incarcerated by the state; 16 (2) involving divorce or dissolution; 17 (3) involving adoption, custody, support, or visitation of a child; 18 (4) filed as a small claims action; or 19 (5) involving children in need of aid under AS 47.10. 20 (i) In this section, "civil pleading" includes motions and affidavits by a party 21 to the civil action. 22 * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 23 read: 24 APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to an act or omission described under 25 AS 09.65.280, added by sec. 1 of this Act, that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. 26 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 27 read: 28 SEVERABILITY. Under AS 01.10.030, if any provision of this Act or the application 29 of a provision of this Act to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this 30 Act and the application to other persons shall not be affected.