SACRAMENTO - A bill designed to end the on-going abuse of CaliforniaŽs Unfair Competition Law (UCL) will be heard in Senate Judiciary Committee on May 11. The bill, SB 593 (Morrow) will, among other things, require that a person or persons have actually been harmed or threatened with harm for a UCL suit to be filed, according to the Civil Justice Association of California, the billŽs sponsor.

The Unfair Competition Law (Business and Professions Code 17200) is intended to stop unfair competition that harms businesses as well as consumers of goods and services. The law was originally intended to be used by district attorneys and other public prosecutors, but court interpretations allow private attorneys to use it as well.

"A troubling loophole in the UCL allows private attorneys to file lawsuits even when no law has been broken, no fraud has been committed, and no one has been injured or deceived," said John H. Sullivan, President of the Civil Justice Association of California.

Sullivan said an example of trial lawyer abuse of the UCL is an actual case where a toy maker was sued because advertisements saying its childŽs oven would produce treats in under ten minutes did not allow for the time to mix the snack ingredients and pre-heat the oven.

SB 593 will correct this problem while allowing attorneys with legitimate cases to protect consumers and businesses from dishonest merchandising.