Archives for August 7, 2013

The Wednesday August 7, 2013 edition of the Los Angeles Daily Journal featured Robert McKennon’s article entitled:  “Clear win for insureds, though scope uncertain.”  In it, Mr. McKennon discusses how a highly anticipated decision by the California Supreme Court in Zhang v. Superior Court of San Bernardino (California Capital Insurance), 2012 DJDAR 10174, expands the availability of claims that can be brought under Bus. & Prof. Code 17200, a.k.a. California’s Unfair Competition Law, or UCL.  The article discusses how in Zhang, the Supreme Court addressed the split among courts in California regarding the scope of the court’s prior holding in Moradi-Shalal v. Fireman’s Fund Insurance Companies, 46 Cal. 3d 287 (1988) and adopted a narrow interpretation of Moradi-Shalal.  The article explains how the Supreme Court’s holding in Zhang will now allow insureds to bring claims under the UCL against insurers for unfair business practices, such as false advertising, so long as those claims do not rest exclusively on California’s Unfair Insurance Practices Act, or UIPA.  This means that insureds will not just have breach of contract and bad faith claims against insurers, but may also have UCL claims too.  The article is posted below with the permission of the Daily Journal.