Navigating The Ballot

California's Proposition 64 takes aim at the "private attorney general" portion of Business & Professions Code Section 17200—the part that lets non-injured parties sue on behalf of the general public. For good coverage of the coverage, see the UCL Practitioner. While Dan Gillmor thinks both this initiative and Prop. 71 (stem cell research) go too far, unless they make their living by bringing these actions legal practitioners are likely to tell you the opportunities for abuse are plentiful and frequently taken. Two of my Los Angeles colleagues wrote an article last year that expands upon this viewpoint: "The public...does not need lawyers, motivated by attorneys' fee awards, to 'protect' them from business practices that may cause no harm or were already resolved in prior litigation."