Practice Areas & Industries: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Manatt Phelps & Phillips is a recognized leader in litigation brought under California’s Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code Section 17200 et seq. (or “UCL”).  Due to its extremely broad scope, the UCL presently is the weapon of choice for nearly every litigant who sues a business in California.  The UCL prohibits a broad range of “unlawful,” “unfair” or “deceptive” business conduct, and although UCL plaintiffs may not obtain damages, they may seek equitable relief – including injunctions and restitution – on behalf of the general public.

For more than a decade as UCL litigation has increased, our attorneys have successfully represented UCL defendants, plaintiffs and friends of the court in California’s state and federal trial and appellate courts.  We are familiar with 70 years of UCL case law and legislative history, and have shaped judicial interpretation of the UCL by taking first-impression cases to the courts of appeal and the California Supreme Court.

Our special focus on UCL law is particularly important because the courts hearing such litigation often have sparse UCL precedent to guide them, and the UCL standards are purposefully fluid.  In cases from the 1930s to the present, the California Supreme Court has emphasized the broad, “sweeping” scope of the UCL and has encouraged California judges to use their imagination to remedy “schemes” which “frustrate the fundamental rules of honesty and fair dealing.”  Even though UCL claims are now ubiquitous, many California judges often don’t know what to make of them.  Thus, we are actively working to shape the UCL in the courts, and our professionals are recognized for the use of novel theories and defenses to get to the heart of the issues.

Manatt attorneys are sought after to speak and write on UCL topics.  Our articles in legal publications have dealt with such issues as whether the UCL currently provides needed protections to consumers, and what direction UCL decisions should take under the present scope of the Unfair Competition Law.  Our UCL Practice Group distributes an electronic newsletter that discusses the latest UCL developments. 

We have experience with UCL disputes ranging from patent infringement to Medicare cost reporting, from wage-and-hour issues to what a reasonable consumer can expect from advertising claims.  

Representative Cases

§         Figueroa v Northridge Hospital Medical Center et al,  __ Cal. App. 4th __, 2005 WL 2671315 (2d Dist. Nov. 16, 2005) (First impression decision, dismissing appeal of proposed class action complaint against client hospital system, alleging violations of the Labor Code and Unfair Competition Law).

§         Olszewski v. Scripps Health, 30 Cal. 4th 798 (2003) (affirming dismissal of Business & Professions Code Section 17200 lawsuit against hospitals for enforcing liens in personal injury actions by former Medi-Cal-insured hospital patients).

§         Swanson v. St. John’s Regional Medical Center, 97 Cal. App. 4th 245 (2002) (upholding hospitals’ third-party lien rights, and affirming dismissal of UCL claim against California’s largest acute care hospital system).

§         Congress of California Seniors v. Catholic Healthcare West, 87 Cal. App. 4th 491 (2nd Dist. 2001) (holding that Medicare and Medicaid laws pre-empt Unfair Competition Law action by union claiming that hospital submitted false Medicare and Medi-Cal cost reports).

§         Crusader Insurance Co. v. Scottsdale Insurance Co., 54 Cal. App. 4th 121 (1997) (affirming dismissal of action against client insurer on grounds that plaintiff stated no private right of action, including under Section 17200, to sue for violations of California’s Insurance Code).