We are pleased to present the Consumer and Unfair Competition Law Award to a team of government litigators from the California Attorney General’s Office that prosecuted a big-box retailer and its CEO for targeting Spanish-speaking immigrants and other consumers lacking access to traditional credit with predatory business practices. The Consumer and Unfair Competition Law Award recognizes outstanding achievements in consumer protection and unfair competition law that have had a significant impact on the practice in California in the previous 18 months.

This year’s deserving recipients prosecuted People v. Adir International, LLC, et al., against Curacao and its founder, owner, and chief executive, Ron Azarkman. The action alleged that defendants violated state consumer protection statutes through bait-and-switch advertising, selling used goods as new, and engaging in abusive debt-collection practices. Most of the case settled, but the team proceeded to trial on two key issues: defendants’ violation of the Insurance Code in their sale of credit property insurance, and their violation of the Unruh Retail Installment Sales Act by charging consumers “account protection” fees. Over ten years, defendants collected over $83 million in such fees while providing less than 3% of that amount in benefits to consumers.

The trial court held, and the Court of Appeal affirmed, that Curacao’s CEO was directly liable under the UCL for the Insurance Code violations because he knew about the company’s unlawful insurance sales practices, had control over those practices, and permitted them to continue. The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court on defendants’ violations of the Unruh Act, holding that Curacao’s account protection fees are prohibited because they are not expressly provided for in the Act.

This enforcement action was a resounding win for consumers and noteworthy because it is the first case in which the California Court of Appeal interpreted the Unruh Act provisions at issue.  The Court reaffirmed that the Act must be liberally construed to protect consumers and applied to fees added throughout the life of the credit relationship.

We are pleased to present this award to eight individuals representing the California Attorney General’s Office:

1. Michele Van Gelderen, Supervising Deputy Attorney General
2. Alicia Hancock, Deputy Attorney General
3. Michael Reynolds, Deputy Attorney General
4. Rosailda Perez, Deputy Attorney General
5. Joshua Olszewski-Jubelirer, Deputy Attorney General
6. Andrew Wiener, Deputy Attorney General
7. Amos Hartston, Deputy Attorney General
8. Aimee Lopez, Paralegal

Consumer and Unfair Competition Law Award

September 2025

The Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section is pleased to announce the second annual award to recognize outstanding achievements in the practice of consumer and unfair competition law.

The annual Consumer and Unfair Competition Law Award (CUCLA) will recognize the achievements of an attorney or team in a significant litigation or investigation, or in making another meaningful contribution to the development of consumer and unfair competition law.

The following criteria must be met to qualify for the award:

• At least one member of the recognized team must be a member of the California State Bar in good standing;
• Some portion of the achievement must have occurred within the twelve months prior to the submission deadline; and
• The achievement must have meaningfully advanced the practice of consumer and unfair competition law in California.

A nomination statement must be submitted.

In no more than 500 words, describe why the nominated achievement and the attorney or team responsible for it should receive this award.  Relevant considerations include but are not limited to:

• The novel or innovative application of consumer and unfair competition law;
• The impact on the practice of consumer and unfair competition law in California;
• The significance of the achievement to clients or other beneficiaries; and
• The attorney or team’s historical contribution to consumer and unfair competition law in California, including the promotion of all forms of diversity in the consumer and unfair competition law community.

You may also accompany the nomination with supporting documents, such as:

• Resumes or biographies;
• Letters of support;
• Judicial orders, legal analysis, press coverage, or other relevant public documents regarding the achievement; and
• Documents that demonstrate the attorney or teams’ broader contributions to consumer and unfair competition law in California.

Eligible individuals and teams may nominate themselves, or be nominated by others, by completing the following nomination form. 

Applications should be submitted no later than 11:59pm Pacific Time on December 31, 2025.

Please address any question or concerns to antitrust@calawyers.org.