When do you need an unfair business practices attorney in California?  What constitutes an unfair business practice under California law and the business and commercial code?

Unfair Business Practices Often Result in Litigation

One of the first places you may hear of this term is in the midst of a business dispute or litigation.  Unfair business practices allegations are one of the issues cited in most business and healthcare-related lawsuits across California.  What types of activities comprise a genuine unfair business practice?

Unfair Business Practices is Based Upon California Unfair Competition Laws

The California Business and Professions Code within our statutes establishes the concepts of unfair competition as well as unfair business practice.  California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) makes it unlawful to perpetrate any sort of fraud, or deception and extends to practices such as untruths, deceptions or misleading information contained in advertising or in-store signage and associated promotions. Unlike unfair competition, unfair business practice is not limited to a party who is outside of your own business or company.

What Are Some Examples of Unfair Business Practices in California

Unfair business practices in California is usually associated with fraud, the misuse of power, theft and embezzlement, misrepresentation or actions which clearly fall outside of or conflict with the interests associated with a fiduciary duty.

There is legal duty between business owners, shareholders, members of an LLC, partners, executives, directors and even employees within a business.  This is why any business-related dispute between business partners or the owners of a company and/or their employees will involve allegations of unfair business practice in San Diego and Southern California. As an experienced unfair business practice attorney with decades of experience, I can tell you it is a component in many if not most of the business disputes we encounter.

Employees and Former Employees Can be Guilty of Unfair Business Practices

Many lawsuits and disputes which cite unfair business practices are associated with employees or former employees.  For example, a company may establish trade secrets associated with everything from specific intellectual property, recipes, processes, even customer and/or supplier lists and marketing strategies.  There are specific legal requirements to be met when establishing or preserving those things which have been established as a trade secret.

If an employee violates a trade secret it is absolutely the basis of a lawsuit which will include allegations of unfair business practices.  In this example, if a former employee or partner takes valid trade secret(s) and attempts to go out on their own or to a competitor it is possible to put a stop to it and seek any appropriate damages.  While this may seem somewhat minor in some cases, unfair business practices opens the door to the recovery of attorneys fees.  This is why many seemingly small matters can become substantial and expensive exposures.

Pro-Tip: “We handle a lot of cases regarding business fraud, unfair competition, false advertising practices, and just general common law fraud between businesses.

So business to business fraud is a big topic. It happens. You’re in the marketplace, you are doing great, and all of a sudden no one’s coming to you anymore. And then you find out that the number one competitor has taken some of the elements of your website are saying bad things about you, or they’re doing a lost leader advertising bait and switch on the price. And they’re grabbing all your customers, but you have the best product and the best service. They are defrauding you out of your rightful profits. All of a sudden you’re not making the money you used to. You might be the victim of fraud and don’t know it. Go see a lawyer who knows this stuff. We’ll spot it.

Business partner fraud. This never happens until you make money. When there’s no money. I rarely, in fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of a case with business partner fraud until the business starts doing well. And then it’s so common. It’s crazy. People with all the greatest virtues you’ve ever seen in your life, you’ve known your whole life. All of a sudden your company expanding, doing well and money disappears. It’s just so tempting. It’s like gold fever. So that’s also includes shareholder fraud, officer, fraud director fraud, usurpation. That’s a fancy word for taking the company or corporate assets without any fair compensation or in secret. Then there’s the sale of business fraud. We do a lot of that. And you also don’t want to get sued later for inaccurate disclosures, some contingent liability.

In a business fraud case, you get all your contract remedies and tort remedies. You get double whamming contract remedies. You get to have injunctive relief. You get to have provisional remedies. That’s injunctive relief. You have stop orders, you get to have money turnover orders. Just tell the judge, I want that money back, order it back. You get to have general damages of what your lost profits are. You get to have your causation damages of how much money did I actually lose? You know, not just the profits but also lost money because …, whatever the facts are. And most of the time you get attorney’s fees, interests, and punitive damages. And there’s probably more, we’re on a topic where it fits into so many statutes that we can go really use the law in your favor.

And also if it’s against you, we can advise you of all these threats. And if the opposing counsel is really not up to steam, we can let you know that sooner!  You may wake up to find you’re in a big dispute, and we can help you get it resolved quickly when you might otherwise think I can go fight on the way. The risks of “what if” are just too great.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

Do You Need an Unfair Business Practices Attorney in San Diego or Anywhere in California

Do you need an unfair business practices attorney in California?  Are you concerned about an unfair business practice in San Diego?  Have you been accused of unfair business practices in a dispute or lawsuit?  You need immediate advice and counsel from one of our business litigation attorneys with decades of proven experience.  We invite you to review our podcast Episode 25 – Unfair Business Practices as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.