California Supreme Court grants review in two UCL cases, denies review and motion to depublish in another
Today, the Supreme Court granted review of Kearney v. Solomon Smith Barney, Inc., 117 Cal.App.4th 446 (Apr. 1, 2004) (discussed in my post here). In Kearney, the Court of Appeal declined to hold that the UCL's "unlawful" prong encompassed conduct (tape-recording customer service calls without the customers' consent) that violated California law but was lawful in Georgia, where it occurred. The case promises an interesting decision on the scope of the UCL's "unlawful" prong.

The court also granted review in Wells v. One2One Learning Foundation, 116 Cal.App.4th 515 (Mar. 4, 2004) (discussed in my post here). There, the Court of Appeal held that governmental entities are not bound by the UCL because they are not "persons" as the UCL defines that term.

Finally, the court denied a petition for review and motion to depublish in Donabedian v. Mercury Insurance Co., 116 Cal.App.4th 968 (Mar. 11, 2004) (discussed in my post here). In Donabedian, the Court of Appeal held that the UCL may be used to enforce Proposition 103, which regulates auto insurance companies, despite the concurrent jurisdiction of the Department of Insurance. This development is good news for those dealing with primary jurisdiction arguments in their UCL cases.

The Supreme Court's order list is accessible at this link.
- posted by Kim Kralowec @ 8:17 PM