Today at 9:00 a.m., the California Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Abbott Laboratories v. Superior Court (Rackauckas), no. S249895, which presents this UCL-related question (quoted from the Court's online docket):
Does a district attorney have the authority to recover restitution and civil penalties under the Unfair Competition Law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.) for violations occurring outside his or her territorial jurisdiction?
The Court of Appeal said no, on a 2-1 vote (see this blog post). The parties' Supreme Court briefs are available here.
This is the first week of oral arguments since the full scope of the COVID-19 pandemic became clear. The Supreme Court has issued two standing orders on argument procedure (see this order dated March 16, 2020 and this order dated March 27, 2020). All arguments will take place in San Francisco until further notice. Arguing counsel will participate remotely, as will at least two of the seven justices. No more than 15 members of the press will be allowed in the courtroom at any one time. They will be admitted on a first come, first served basis. The public may observe by live video stream.
Per the latest updated argument calendar, Abbott Laboratories will be the first case argued under the new rules. The logistics may be complicated by the fact that the real party in interest requested, and was granted, leave to share 10 minutes of argument time with counsel for several amici curiae. Justice Chin and Justice Fujisaki (of the First Appellate District, Division Three, assigned pro tempore in place of Justice Groban, who is recused) are the two justices who will participate remotely, according to the webcast information. The live-stream video can be accessed on this page, at a link to be posted shortly before the argument begins.
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