On November 2, 2004, California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 64, the "Stop the Shakedown Lawsuits" measure, by a 59 percent to 41 percent margin. After nearly eight years of failed legislative reform efforts, Proposition 64 implemented important procedural changes to California’s notorious Unfair Competition Law ("UCL"), Business & Professions Code section 17200, that will benefit large and small businesses that do business in California.

The scope of California’s UCL is sweeping. It broadly prohibits "unlawful," "unfair," or "fraudulent" business acts or practices, and advertising that is untrue or likely to deceive a reasonable consumer. Before Proposition 64, any person could file a UCL lawsuit—regardless of whether he or she had been injured by the act or deceived by the advertising. Unaffected and uninjured UCL plaintiffs even could sue on behalf of the "general public" without satisfying class action requirements.

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