Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/3098

 124 STAT. 3072 PUBLIC LAW 111–291—DEC. 8, 2010 documentation and evidence would be necessary or helpful in deciding the merits of the claim, or if the adjudicator suspects fraud regarding the claim. (4) ATTORNEYS FEES, EXPENSES, AND COSTS.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph (B) and the provisions of the Settlement Agreement regarding attor- neys’ fee caps and maximum and minimum percentages for awards of attorneys fees, the court shall make any determination as to the amount of attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs in accordance with controlling law, including, with respect to attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs, any applicable rule of law requiring counsel to produce contem- poraneous time, expenses, and cost records in support of a motion for such fees, expenses, and costs. (B) EFFECT ON AGREEMENT.—Nothing in this para- graph limits or otherwise affects the enforceability of provi- sions regarding attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs that may be contained in the Settlement Agreement. (5) CERTIFICATION.—An attorney filing a claim on behalf of a claimant shall swear, under penalty of perjury, that: ‘‘to the best of the attorney’s knowledge, information, and belief formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances, the claim is supported by existing law and the factual conten- tions have evidentiary support’’. (6) DISTRIBUTION OF CLAIMS DETERMINATIONS AND SETTLE- MENT FUNDS.—In order to ensure full transparency of the administration of claims under the Settlement Agreement, the Claims Administrator as that term is defined in the Settlement Agreement, shall provide to the Secretary of Agriculture, the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture, the Attorney General, and Lead Class Counsel as that term is defined in the Settlement Agreement, all information regarding Distribution of Claims Determinations and Settlement Funds described in the Settlement Agreement. (h) REPORTS.— (1) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the United States shall evaluate the internal controls (including internal controls concerning fraud and abuse) created to carry out the terms of the Settlement Agreement, and report to the Congress at least 2 times throughout the duration of the claims adjudication process on the results of this evaluation. (B) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—Solely for purposes of conducting the evaluation under subparagraph (A), the Comptroller General shall have access, upon request, to the claims administrator, the claims adjudicators, and related officials, appointed in connection with the aforemen- tioned settlement, and to any information and records gen- erated, used, or received by them, including names and addresses. (2) USDA INSPECTOR GENERAL.— (A) PERFORMANCE AUDIT.—The Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture shall, within 180 days of the initial adjudication of claims, and subsequently as appropriate, perform a performance audit based on a statis- tical sampling of adjudicated claims.