THE PEOPLE v. THE PACIFIC LUMBER COMPANY Part I
Absolute litigation privilege of Civil Code Sec. 47(b) applies in action brought by public entity under Unfair Competition Law. Noerr Pennington doctrine, under which "[t]hose who petition the government...are generally immune from antitrust liability," bars unfair competition action based on defendant's allegedly fraudulent conduct in communicating information to government agencies during California Environmental Quality Act administrative proceedings held in connection with agreement by which defendant sold certain lands to state in exchange for right to harvest timber on other lands, subject to environmental review; "sham exception" to the doctrine does not apply unless the conduct was "objectively baseless."
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