This bill prohibits foreign governments and wealth funds from providing financial support for lawsuits in which they are not named parties, ensuring greater transparency in the legal process.
Protecting Our Courts from Foreign Manipulation Act This bill limits third-party financing of civil litigation by foreign entities in federal courts and establishes related disclosure requirements. The bill makes it unlawful for a foreign state or sovereign wealth fund to provide any monetary support for a civil action in which it is not a named party. The bill also makes it unlawful for any party or counsel to receive monetary support for civil litigation from a foreign state or sovereign wealth fund that is not a party. The bill also prohibits third-party litigation funding agreements involving money from a foreign state or sovereign wealth fund in which someone other than named parties or counsel of record receives a payment that is contingent on the outcome or proceeds from the civil action or from any matter within a portfolio that includes the civil action. The bill requires any party or counsel in a civil action to disclose the name of any foreign person, state, or sovereign wealth fund that has agreed to provide monetary support for the civil action, has a right to receive a payment contingent upon the outcome of the civil action, or has the right to receive payment that is contingent on proceeds from any matter within a portfolio that includes the civil action. The bill also requires parties to produce the agreement creating a contingent right to payment. These requirements apply to claims that are pending on or commenced after this bill's date of enactment.
