Supreme Court of California

In a class action involving the advertising practices of the tobacco industry, trial court order granting defendants' decertification motion is reversed and remanded where: 1) Proposition 64 does not impose Bus. & Prof. Code sec. 17204's standing requirements on absent class members in a unfair competition law class action where class requirements have otherwise been found to exist; and 2) a plaintiff must plead and prove actual reliance to satisfy the standing requirement of sec. 17204, but is not required to necessarily plead and prove individualized reliance on specific misrepresentations or false statements where those misrepresentations and false statements were part of an extensive and long-term advertising campaign.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/18/2009
• Published 05/18/2009

Judges

• MORENO, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Dougherty & Hildre, Donald F. Hildre, William O. Dougherty, Frederick M. Dudek, Thomas D. Haklar, San Diego;  Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson, Mark P. Robinson, Sharon J. Arkin and Karen Karavatos, Newport Beach, for Plaintiffs and Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Harvey Rosenfield, Pamela M. Pressley, Santa Monica, Todd M. Foreman;  Gianelli & Morris, Timothy J. Morris and Jully C. Pae, Los Angeles, for The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants., Law Offices of Mark Peacock and Mark J. Peacock, Newport Beach, for Consumer Attorneys of California as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants., Mark Savage, San Francisco, for Consumers Union of United States, Inc., as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants., Jackson, DeMarco Tidus & Peckenpaugh, Irvine, William M. Hensley and Robert J. Stein III for Curtis Schlessinger, Peter LoRe and California Law Institute as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants., Fazio Micheletti, Jeffrey L. Fazio and Dina E. Micheletti, San Ramon, for Public Citizen, Inc., and The Center for Auto Safety as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants., Levy, Ram & Olson, Arthur D. Levy, San Francisco;  The Sturdevant Law Firm, James C. Sturdevant and Monique Olivier, San Francisco, for The National Consumer Law Center and National Association of Consumer Advocates as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants., Munger, Tolles & Olson, Gregory P. Stone, Daniel P. Collins, Fred A. Rowley, Jr., Los Angeles, Steven B. Weisburd, Austin, TX, Joseph S. Klapach, Daniel B. Levin;  Seltzer CaplanMcMahon Vitek, Gerald L. McMahon and Daniel E. Eaton, San Diego, for Defendant and Respondent Philip Morris USA Inc., Dechert, H. Joseph Escher III, San Francisco;  Wright & L'Estrange, San Diego, Robert C. Wright;  Jones Day and William T. Plesec, Cleveland, OH, for Defendants and Respondents R.J. Reynold Tobacco Company and Brown & Williamson Holdings, Inc., formerly known as Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation., Loeb & Loeb and Sharon S. Mequet, Los Angeles, for Defendant and Respondent The Council for Tobacco Research-U.S.A., Inc., DLA Piper RudnickGray Cary US, DLA Piper US, William S. Boggs and Brian A. Foster, San Diego, for Defendant and Respondent Lorillard Tobacco Company., Reed Smith and Mary C. Oppedahl for Defendant and Respondent The Tobacco Institute., Lendrum Law Firm and Jeffrey P. Lendrum, La Jolla, for Defendants and Respondents Liggett Group Inc., and Liggett & Myers, Inc., Deborah J. La Fetra, Orlando, FL, for Pacific Legal Foundation as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents., Fred J. Hiestand, Sacramento;  Morrison & Foerster and William L. Stern, San Francisco, for The Civil Justice Association of California, California Chamber of Commerce, California Manufacturers and Technology Association and California Bankers Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents., Shook, Hardy & Bacon and Kevin Underhill, San Franciso, for Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents., Kaye Scholer and Jeffrey S. Gordon, Los Angeles, for Pfizer Inc., as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents., Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, G. Charles Nierlich, Rebecca Justice Lazarus, Gail E. Lees and Christopher Chorba, Los Angeles, for Farmers Insurance Exchange and Granite State Insurance Company as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents., Horvtiz & Levy, Lisa Perrochet and John A. Taylor, Jr., Encino, for Verisign, Inc., and AT & T Mobility LLC as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents.