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Recent UCL "unfair" prong case: Drum v. San Fernando Valley Bar Association

By Kimberly A. Kralowec

In Drum v. San Fernando Valley Bar Association, ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Feb. 24, 2010), the Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District, Division Five) upheld a judgment entered after the defendant's demurrer to the plaintiff's UCL claim was sustained without leave to amend. 

Plaintiff was a former attorney and private mediator who sought to buy the San Fernando Valley Bar Association's membership list so that he could market his services to its members.  Slip op. at 2.  The Association refused to sell it to him, so he filed suit under the UCL seeking a mandatory injunction.  Id.  The Court of Appeal held (without deciding whether this was a "consumer" or a "competitor" action) that the Association's conduct was not "unfair" under any of the three formulations:

A voluntary bar association?s unilateral refusal to sell its membership list to any particular buyer, even if the association?s reason was to protect some of its members from price competition, is not an ?unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice? under the UCL (§ 17200).

Id. at 5.  The Court of Appeal also observed that plaintiff "did not allege that he lost or expended or was denied any money or property as the result of the Association?s refusal to sell him its membership mailing list," and therefore lacked Prop. 64 standing to bring the action.  Id. at 4.

Full post as published by The UCL Practitioner on March 16, 2010 (boomark / email).