H.B. 307 Attorney Fees Amendments

What this bill does

H.B. 307 would allow a court to award attorney fees against a party who files a frivolous motion in bad faith, not just a lawsuit, so that the bad faith fee statute applies to both. The first substitute replaces the bad faith definition with a more objective one modeled on other states, and the injured party must show the motion or action is frivolous or lacks a reasonable basis and was filed to harass or delay.

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Every vote

• 8 yes, 0 no, 3 absentHouse Judiciary Committee: vote to change the bill · Feb 5, 2026Who voted how
• 8 yes, 0 no, 3 absentHouse Judiciary Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 5, 2026Who voted how
• 71 yes, 0 no, 4 absentFinal House vote · Feb 17, 2026
• 6 yes, 0 no, 3 absentSenate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee: vote to approve it · Feb 24, 2026Who voted how
• 6 yes, 0 no, 3 absentSenate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee: Consent Calendar Recommendation · Feb 24, 2026Who voted how
• 27 yes, 0 no, 2 absentFinal Senate vote · Mar 2, 2026

Hearings and debates

• Feb 5, 2026 House Judiciary Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (19 turns)

  1. Committee chair (presiding)1:21:55

     Next on our agenda is Representative Loubet with the HB 3 0 7. Are you speaking to the first substitute representative? Yes. Will you be speaking to the first substitute?

  2. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet1:22:10

     Okay, I will. Wonderful. Please proceed. Great. Um, I'll give a little bit of a background. So, uh, this is a bill that, uh, if you are involved in civil lawsuits, you might find it interesting, and if you aren't, you will be bored. So I'll try to keep it very brief and to the point. Um, in, uh, section 78 B dash five dash 8 25 of Utah Code. It's known as the bad faith statute. If somebody filed a frivolous lawsuit against you, you'd be able to, uh, file a motion with the court to collect your attorney's fees. And so, uh, but what has happened is that courts have inconsistently applied this to motions as well. So sometimes a, a judge would award attorney's fees for, uh, motions. Sometimes they wouldn't. And so in looking at this, uh, I wanted to make sure it would be consistent across the board. So in addition to awarding attorney's fees, uh, that were for lawsuits that were filed in bad faith, this also now applies to, uh, mo frivolous motions, uh, that were filed in bad faith. Um, the change from the original to the first sub is how, uh, bad faith is defined. So what we did in the fir the original version, is we took what the courts had interpreted bad faith to be, and I put it in the bill. But then I had a lot of people call with concerns with the new language. And then as I showed them the case law and saying, well, wait a minute, this is actually how the courts interpret it, people weren't exactly happy with that. And so they wanted something that was less subjective and more objective. And so, working with the drafting attorney, we looked at how bad faith was defined in surrounding jurisdictions. And this definition is, would be easily more easily applied by judges and argued by attorneys of whether or not, uh, something was filed in bad faith. And that concludes my presentation.

  3. Committee chair (presiding)1:24:05

     Thank you, representative. We'll come back to the committee for discussion or clarifying questions. Representative Miller? Okay.

  4. Rep. Tracy Miller1:24:18

     Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, so this bill is about bad faith. So my question for you, is this a good bill?

  5. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet1:24:27

     It is a good bill about bad faith.

  6. Rep. Tracy Miller1:24:30

     Thank you. That answers my question. Thank you. Thank you so much. That was very helpful.

  7. Committee chair (presiding)1:24:37

     Okay. Seeing no further lights, we'll go to the public for comment. Is there anyone here who wishes to speak to this bill, please raise your hand. Seeing no hands. Is there anybody online? Nobody online will come back to the Committee for Action.

  8. Committee chair (presiding)1:24:54

     Representative foxer? Yeah.

  9. Rep. Carl R. Albrecht1:25:01

     Um, I, motion to adopt first sub.

  10. Committee chair (presiding)1:25:05

      The motion is to adopt the first substitute of House 3 0 7 House bill 3 0 7. Mm-hmm. Would you like to speak to that?

  11. Rep. Tiara Auxier1:25:13

      I'll waive to the sponsor.

  12. Committee chair (presiding)1:25:15

      I waive discussion to the motion Representative Miller?

  13. Rep. Tracy Miller1:25:22

      Oh, um, I'm still on. Uh, no, I, I it's still a good bill. It's still a good bill. I've gotta support it Again, but it's okay.

  14. Committee chair (presiding)1:25:31

      Alright. I think that our, um, system might have some issues tonight, so hopefully they'll be fixed before our next meeting, but, okay. So let's see. Where were we Adopting the first sub? We we're in discussion. Okay. And now we're going to go back to the sponsor, waive. Waive And the maker of the motion. Thank you.

  15. Committee chair (presiding)1:25:54

      Alright, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. That passes unanimously. And Representative Ox the

  16. Rep. Tiara Auxier1:26:03

      Motion that we recommend for substitute HB 3 0 7, um, with favorable recommendation to the house floor. The motion is that we favorably recommend House Bill 3 0 7

  17. Committee chair (presiding)1:26:13

      for substitute discussion to that Yes. Or would you like to speak with to that representative Boxier Waive? Okay. Discussion to the motion. Seeing no lights to Sponsor,

  18. Rep. Tiara Auxier1:26:27speaker not certain

      I want to thank the, uh, sponsor for the motion. I appreciate it. And it is a good bill that deserves a favorable recommendation. Thank you. Wave.

  19. Committee chair (presiding)1:26:44

      We will do a roll call. Vote. Okay. Friday. It feels like it should be. It's Friday for Judiciary Committee. Uh, Representative Abbott. Aye. Er, aye. Gracious. Yes. Lube? Yes. Manga? Yes. Millard? Yes. Thompson? Yes. Libe. Aye. That passes unanimously. Thank you Representative.

• Feb 17, 2026 House floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (3 turns)

  1. Speaker (presiding)22:36

     First substitute has Bill 3 0 7 Attorney fees amendments by Representative Loubet. This bill was heard in judiciary with a vote of 8 0 3 Representative Loubet.

  2. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet22:47

     Thank you Mr. Speaker. Right now on our books, we have a bad faith statute that in a civil action, if somebody filed a lawsuit in bad faith, the uh, injured parties entitled to their attorney's fees. Um, and some judges have applied this to frivolous motions as well, but it's been inconsistent. So this bill, uh, clarifies that this also applies to frivolous motions. And that concludes my presentation.

  3. Speaker (presiding)23:12

     Thank you, Representative Loubet. Discussion to the bill C None. Back to you, Representative Lee Bay. For summation, I Waive summation has been waived. Voting will now be open on first substitute HB three seven all present. Hand voting vote is now closed. First substitute HB 3 0 7 passed this by a 71. Yes. Vote zero, no votes be sent to the Senate for its consideration. Madam Marine Clerk

• Feb 24, 2026 Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (19 turns)

  1. Committee chair3:12:52

     Um, go ahead. Representative Loubet HB 3 0 7. First substitute attorney's fees amendment.

  2. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet3:13:00

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, there's two things this bill is doing. One is, uh, we currently under our law have a bad faith statute. So if somebody files a lawsuit in bad faith, also known as like being a frivolous, uh, lawsuit, that the injured party is able to get their attorney's fees, uh, compensated back to them. Um, and so some judges have applied this to frivolous motions as well, but it's been inconsistent. And so what this bill clarifies is that this also applies to frivolous motions. And then the second thing it does is that, uh, the definition of bad faith has been, uh, revised. The previous standard as interpreted by the courts, was more objective or more subjective. It was kind of looking at what the intent of the person was trying to do it. And that's always a hard thing to do. So this is to try to make it more objective. And with that, that concludes my presentation.

  3. Committee chair3:13:54

     I think your light's on Senator Brammer, but I think that was from before. Is that right? Or do you have a question? Yeah,

  4. Sen. Brady Brammer3:13:59

     It, it was from before. But I do have a question on, uh, can you tell me how a court would go through the analysis as to whether something is bad faith?

  5. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet3:14:10

     Yes. So on, let's see, page 41, lines 1385 to 1411. It talks about what the process would be. And so after a lawsuit, um, you would have, or in this case, if there's a frivolous motion, there would be, um, a lawsuit, a motion filed to have the award of attorney fees. And then, uh, the court, the person who was injured would have to show that the action or motion was frivolous or has no reasonable basis in law or fact. And then the party would have to then also, uh, show if it was intended to harass, cause unreasonable delay, needlessly increase the cost of litigation or abuse, uh, or abuse, the judicial process. And then the court will, would review the evidence or facts related to that, and then make a determination if that had occurred, and then award a fees.

  6. Committee chair3:15:09

     Okay. Thank you. That concludes, uh, clarifying questions. Anybody from the public would like to speak to that? Seeing none, none online. We'll go back to the committee for, let's see. I wanna make sure where we're at here. There's no subs, right? Mm-hmm. Um, come back to the committee for any further. Committee action. Senator Brammer?

  7. Sen. Brady Brammer3:15:32

     Yeah, I'll, uh, I have two motions depending on how the first one goes. Uh, I move that we recommend favorably first substitute HB 3 0 7. Uh, that motion is in order.

  8. Committee chair3:15:44

     The motion is to favorably recommend HB 3 0 7. First substitute to attorney fees amendments. Would you like to speak to that?

  9. Unknown speaker3:15:51speaker not certain

     Um, he probably needs a better Senate sponsor, but other than that, it's good. Bill To the sponsor for some.

  10. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet3:15:59speaker not certain

      No, I appreciate the motion.

  11. Committee chair3:16:00

      Okay. Back to the make of the motion. Do you waive, I'll waive motion is to favorably recommend hb, uh, first substitute HB 3 0 7 Attorney fees amendments. All those in favor say aye. Aye. And, uh, any opposed? Hearing none in opposition, I rule that motion passes unanimously.

  12. Sen. Brady Brammer3:16:20

      And then, uh, this one is, uh, it hasn't received any no votes. And so I would make a motion to put this on consent.

  13. Committee chair3:16:28

      That motion is in order. The motion is to move to consent for substitute HB 3 0 7 Attorney fees amendments. Speak to that.

  14. Sen. Brady Brammer3:16:36

      Um, no, I just, it doesn't seem to have, uh, opposition in the form of any votes against it or anything like that, I don't think.

  15. Committee chair3:16:43

      Would you like that to happen?

  16. Sen. Brady Brammer3:16:45

      I would love that to happen. Alright.

  17. Committee chair3:16:46

      With the love of it wanting to happen. Um, all those in favor of moving to consent, HB 3 0 7, first substitute attorney fees Amendments, say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

  18. Unknown speaker3:16:58speaker not certain

      Maybe his floor sponsor isn't the worst. It is now on consent. There's something redeeming.

  19. Committee chair3:17:05

      Thank you. Thank you. Committee and Representative Cutler.

• Mar 2, 2026 Senate floor debate▶ Watch
  Transcript (4 turns)

  1. Sen. Brady Brammer17:27

     Are numerous statutes that provide for attorney's fees when there is bad faith, but we don't have a good definition of bad faith. So what this does is it clarifies what bad faith means in the context of when a party is entitled to attorney fees in a legislative action. And typically, um, what it does is it says that it's when the other party is engaging in tactics to delay harass and otherwise cause undue, uh, cost in a litigation. And with that, I mo and, and for, uh, that reason I would move that HB 3 0 7 first substitute pa uh, pass. Thank

  2. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)18:03

     You. Thank you for that motion. The question is, shall first substitute house bill 3 0 7 pass quel

  3. Senate clerk (roll call)18:08

     Vote. Senator Vickers Baldry Aye. Lewin Aye. Brammer Aye. Bus comore Escamilla a Fillmore Grr. A Sir Harper Kinins Aye. Ipson johnson Quan Juab McKay Mikel Aye. Milner Musman Owens pitcher Plum rebe Sandal Stevenson Stratton Vickers Weer Aye. Wilson Winterton

  4. Sen. J. Stuart Adams (presiding)18:54

     President Adams Aye. First substitute house bill 3 0 7. Having received 27 yay votes, zero nay votes. Two being absent passes. This body will be signed by the president. Return to the house with a signature of the speaker.