Governor Weighs Bill Opening Up Prop. 65 Pacts– by Dennis Pfaff at the Daily Journal

Excerpted from the full length article at the San Francisco Daily Journal:

The measure [SB1269] allows private organizations to keep 25% of any of the money they win in penalties. Such cases rarely go to trial, however, and in the past some groups have come under fire for reaching settlements that gave plaintiffs huge attorney fees and relatively low penalties; the latter must be shared with state and local agencies.

In 1994, for example, the attorney general accused one prominent Proposition 65 plaintiffs group, As You Sow, of collecting more than $1 million in costs and fees “and not a single penny of penalties or restitution.”

That organization is now locked in a bitter San Francisco court fight with its former attorney, whom it accuses of keeping 85% of the more than $8 million the organization won in Proposition 65 cases. The lawyer, Clifford Chanler, has called the complained baseless.

Business also complains of varying standards for what qualifies as “clear and reasonable” warning under the statue, the fundamental test for whether a product is in compliance with the initiative. link to source.