By Jessica Dye

Law360, New York (May 15, 2009, 12:00 AM ET) -- The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that private class action representatives must prove injury-in-fact to bring claims under the state's Unfair Competition Law, striking down defendants' arguments that each individual class member must meet standing requirements set by electorate initiative Proposition 64.

In a 4-3 ruling, the high court held that a trial court had erred in disbanding a 2001 class seeking damages from nine major tobacco companies — including Philip Morris USA Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. — over allegedly misleading advertisements questioning the...