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S 378 115th Congress Senate

Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act

Official title: A bill to amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, to require the maintenance of databases on awards of fees and other expenses to prevailing parties in cert… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, to require the maintenance of databases on awards of fees and other expenses to prevailing parties in certain administrative proceedings and court cases to which the United States is a party, and for other purposes.

Introduced: December 13, 2018 Introduced by: Barrasso, John Republican · Wyoming See on congress.gov
Law Civil actions and liabilityCongressional oversightGovernment information and archivesGovernment liabilityLegal fees and court costs
This bill died when the 115th Congress ended
It never became law before the 115th Congress (2017–2018) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 14, 2017
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Feb 14, 2017
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action February 14, 2017

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act

This bill amends the Equal Access to Justice Act and the federal judicial code to require the Administrative Conference of the United States to create and maintain online searchable databases with information about the attorney's fees and other expenses awarded to prevailing parties other than the United States in certain: (1) agency-conducted adversary adjudication proceedings, and (2) civil action court cases (excluding tort cases) or settlement agreements to which the United States is a party.

With respect to each award, the information must include: (1) the name of the agency involved, (2) the name of each party to whom the award was made, (3) a description of the claims, (4) the amount of the award, and (5) the basis for finding that the position of the agency concerned was not substantially justified. Under current law, the awards are made unless the position of the agency was substantially justified or special circumstances make an award unjust.

 Related & companion bills 2
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 378: Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act. 115th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/115-S-378/
MLA
"S. 378: Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act." 115th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/115-S-378/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 378, 115th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/115-S-378/.
Markdown link
[S. 378: Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/115-S-378/)
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