Opinion ID: 2508131
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: conclusion

Text: At a time when Californians are increasingly concerned about extortionate lawsuits against businesses, large and small, and worried that the legal climate in California is so unfriendly to businesses that many are leaving the state and others are deterred from coming here in the first place, [6] today's ruling goes in exactly the wrong direction. And it goes further in that direction than this court has ever gone before. We should interpret and apply California's private attorney general statutes sensibly to encourage responsible litigation while also keeping attorney fee judgments within reasonable bounds and maintaining some semblance of balance between the litigation positions of the plaintiffs and the defendants. Because the majority does not do so, I dissent. I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal. WE CONCUR: BAXTER and BROWN, JJ.