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Johnson & Johnson, et al. v. California

Paid petition · Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, No. D077945 · judgment April 11, 2022


Certiorari denied · February 21, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

  1. Whether a robust fair notice standard applies to California’s Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq., and False Advertising Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500 et seq., given the severe civil penalties at stake, the risk of chilling protected speech, and the criminal penalties involved.

  2. Whether Ethicon had fair notice that it faced hundreds of millions of dollars in civil penalties under these statutes for materials sent to California, but not proven to have reached consumers.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
E. Joshua Rosenkranz
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

For respondent
Samuel Thomas Harbourt
California Department of Justice

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
4 cert-stage

Linked docket
22A256

Proceedings

  1. Feb 21 2023
    Petition DENIED. Justice Alito took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.
  2. Feb 01 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/17/2023.
  3. Jan 30 2023
    Reply of petitioners Johnson & Johnson, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  4. Jan 17 2023
    Brief of respondent California in opposition filed.
  5. Dec 15 2022
    Brief amicus curiae of The Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America filed.
  6. Dec 15 2022
    Brief amicus curiae of Advanced Medical Technology Association filed.
  7. Dec 15 2022
    Brief amicus curiae of Washington Legal Foundation filed.
  8. Dec 15 2022
    Brief amici curiae of National Association of Manufacturers, et al. filed.
  9. Nov 28 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including January 17, 2023. See Rule 30.1.
  10. Nov 23 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from December 15, 2022 to January 16, 2023, submitted to The Clerk.
  11. Nov 10 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 15, 2022)
  12. Sep 22 2022
    Application (22A256) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until November 10, 2022.
  13. Sep 19 2022
    Application (22A256) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from October 11, 2022 to November 10, 2022, submitted to Justice Kagan.