RCRSD Partner Receive 2010 California Lawyer Attorney of The Year Awards

Posted in Unfair Business Practices on April 16, 2010

Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis, Inc. (RCRSD) partners Mark P. Robinson, Jr. and Kevin Calcagnie were recently honored as recipients of the 2010 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Awards. The CLAY awards are presented annually by California Lawyer Magazine to attorneys in various areas of legal practice whose achievements have made a profound impact on the law. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Calcagnie received the awards in the category of Appellate Law, for their work in connection with the California Supreme Court ruling In re Tobacco II Cases (2009) 46 Cal.4th 298, 311, 93 Cal.Rptr.3d 559, 207 P.3d 20.

According to California Lawyer, “the 4-3 holding breathed new life into Unfair Competition Law class actions in which consumers allege they relied on misleading statements and advertising. Under Proposition 64, passed in 2004 to curb such litigation, plaintiffs must show they lost money or property as a result of the unfair competition. Some courts had interpreted this to mean that each class member—not just the lead plaintiff—would need to show he or she suffered an injury.”

“But in Tobacco II, the state Supreme Court held that so long as the representative plaintiff meets the standing requirements of an injury, the claims of the entire class may survive. The ruling allows that some individuals may be members of a class even if they do not have standing to file suit on their own. Previously, a number of courts had denied class certification without a showing that all class members relied on the false claims.”

RCRSD attorney Karen L. Karavatos was also a member of the team that worked on the appeal, along with Sharon Arkin of the Arkin Law Firm and and Tom Haklar of Dougherty, Hildre & Haklar.