Passage of Proposition 64

On November 2, 2004, California Voters approved Proposition 64 to amend California's Business and Professions Code provisions which previously allowed an unaffected person to sue another on behalf of the general public to stop unlawful conduct and false advertising. This appointment as Attorney General extended to a broad category of "persons."

Proposition 64 amended the statute to require that a person suing had to be personally injured by the conduct that prompted the lawsuit. The prior law had no such requirement.

Presently, defense firms across the State are bringing motions to dismiss actions that were filed before the passage of Proposition 64. The appellate courts are ordering briefing from litigants as to whether the effect of Proposition 64 is "retroactive."

Whether Proposition 64 is retroactive will determine whether existing cases won at the trial level, are now to be determined a loss. That question is one of the hottest open questions in California courts today.

I'll post more news as this issue develops.