H.R. 3213 — Restoring Court Authority Over Litigation Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings that the practice of law, including litigation activities, has been regulated primarily by state supreme courts, their disciplinary agencies, and state and federal courts—not by Congress or federal agencies—and that federal statutes and rules (e.g., Consumer Financial Protection Act §1027(e), original Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) have generally excluded attorneys engaged in such practice. The section further finds that actions by the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and courts (e.g., Heintz v. Jenkins, 514 U.S. 291 (1995)) have created conflicting rules, undermined judicial authority, increased litigation and costs for attorneys, and reduced access to justice, necessitating federal legislation to clarify exclusive judicial regulation of attorneys in litigation.

This section establishes new section 1632 of title 28, United States Code, defining "litigation activities" to include actions by licensed attorneys or law firms in legal actions (e.g., filing pleadings, court communications, or judgment enforcement). It prohibits federal agencies from exercising any supervisory, enforcement, or regulatory authority over such activities and bars private civil actions in federal court seeking relief for harm from alleged misconduct therein. (Thus, state and federal courts retain primary authority to oversee attorneys in these matters.)

This section amends the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) to exclude from the definition of debt collector any licensed attorney or law firm engaged in litigation activities (as defined in 28 U.S.C. §1632) to collect a debt on behalf of a client. The section further amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to clarify that an exclusion from Bureau supervisory authority under section 1027(e)(2) does not apply to such attorneys if excluded from the FDCPA debt collector definition.