Defendants' evidence on an Anti-SLAPP motion did not establish that plaintiff had discovered its claim more than three years before it sued for fraud. The evidence at most showed that the plaintiff suspected and with diligent internet searches might have found that some of the facts stated in defendant's letter were untrue, but that would not have shown plaintiff that… Read More
To be protected speech under the Anti-SLAPP statute, pre-litigation communications must have been made in anticipation of litigation contemplated in good faith and under serious consideration. Here, a lawyer's letter on behalf of an entity that plaintiff claimed owd it money was not made in the context of seriously contemplated litigation and so was not protected speech. The lawyer and… Read More
This decision holds that Baral v. Schnitt (2016) 1 Cal.5th 376 has fatally undermined the holding and reasoning of South Sutter LLC v. LJ Sutter Partners, L.P. (2011) 193 Cal.App.4th 634. Baral holds that mixed causes of action must be examined under the Anti-SLAPP statute based on the allegations regarding protected activity rather than under the Pomeroy "cause of action"… Read More
California Rule of Court 3.1322 requires that a motion to strike be brought with a demurrer or within 30 days after service of complaint and requires a notice of a motion to strike "quote in full the portions sought to be stricken except where the motion is to strike an entire paragraph, cause of action, count, or defense." This decision… Read More
Defendant is a student loan debt collector which sued plaintiff on a student loan debt. Plaintiff filed this putative class action alleging that defendant manufactured false substitute rosters to show which entities owned the student loans it sued to collect. The complaints alleged protected activity in the course of petitioning courts. The case did not fit within the Flatley v.… Read More
The trial court correctly denied defendant's Anti-SLAPP motion. The absolute litigation privilege did not protect her from liability for her web blog and Yelp! postings that allegedly defamed the plaintiff construction contractor that she said had botched repairs on her house. Though defendant had filed a complaint with the Contractor's Licensing Board which had awarded her compensation from the plaintiff,… Read More
This decision holds that the trial court erred in denying defendants' Anti-SLAPP motion to strike this malicious prosecution action. While the defendants made a bunch of mistakes in conducting the underlying quiet title action, they did not lack probable cause because two instruments describing the same easement signed by the same grantor gave conflicting information about the easement's temporal duration. … Read More
Distinguishing Changsha Metro Group Co., Ltd. v. Xuefeng (2020) 49 Cal.App.5th 173, this decision holds that plaintiff waived his right to attorney fees for opposing defendant's frivolous Anti-SLAPP motion by failing to give defendant 21-day notice before filing the motion for attorney fees. CCP 425.16(d) provides that fees for opposing a frivolous Anti-SLAPP motion may be awarded in accordance with… Read More
The parties had been high school sweethearts. After they broke up, defendant emailed Dartmouth, where plaintiff had enrolled for college. The emails said various disparaging things about plaintiff including that he had been the subject of a disciplinary proceeding in high school for voter fraud in a student body president election. This decision holds that defendant's Anti-SLAPP motion was properly… Read More
The trial court correctly denied defendant's Anti-SLAPP motion. This Brown Act suit targeted the City Council's taking action on an item that was not posted in an agenda at least 72 hours before the City Council meeting in violation of Gov. Code, § 54954.2(a)(1). While what was said at the City Council meeting may have been protected speech, the Council's… Read More
Insofar as defendant's cross-complaint was based on plaintiff's press releases about a treatment it was developing for opioid overdose, the claims fell within the CCP 425.17(c) exemption from the Anti-SLAPP statute. Contrary to plaintiff's argument, the fact that over recent years it obtained and spent most of its money on research and development did not show that it was not… Read More
Seyfarth was hired to investigate a professor's claim that she was discriminated against by Cal. State University Fullerton. It performed the investigation and submitted a report to the university administration concluding there was no merit to the professor's claims. After unsuccessfully suing a host of other defendants, the professor sued Seyfarth, claiming the report and investigation were biased, etc. Seyfarth… Read More
Seyfarth was hired to investigate a professor's claim that she was discriminated against by Cal. State University Fullerton. It performed the investigation and submitted a report to the university administration concluding there was no merit to the professor's claims. After unsuccessfully suing a host of other defendants, the professor sued Seyfarth, claiming the report and investigation were biased, etc. Seyfarth… Read More
This decision holds that the Anti-SLAPP motion in this case was properly denied because the suit fits within CCP 425.17(b)'s exception for suits in the public interest. The plaintiff did not seek any relief greater than or different from the relief sought for the general public or a class of which the plaintiff was a member. Seeking individualized relief, such… Read More
Following prior 9th Circuit precedent, this decision holds that an order denying an Anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss is immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine--unless the order denies the motion because the claim fits within one of CP 425.17's exceptions to the Anti-SLAPP statute--but in concurrences two of the panel's three judges urge the full court to overrule the prior… Read More
Applying the test for conduct in furtherance of First Amendment activities stated in Filmon.com v. DoubleVerify, Inc. (2019) 7 Cal.5th 133, this decision holds that while the production of a TV program about rich Asian-Americans' adjustment to life in LA was an exercise of constitutionally protected expression, the wrongful conduct alleged in the complaint--denying the plaintiff a role in producing… Read More
A news organization sent UC Irvine a records request under the California Public Records Act for documents about a professor's postpublication communications about her articles which UCI had withdrawn from publication due to concerns about plagarism and accuracy of citations. The professor filed this lawsuit to prevent UCI from producing documents in response to the request. Held, the suit arose… Read More
When a defendant files an Anti-SLAPP motion, he must identify which portions of the complaint he wishes to strike and show that those portions of the complaint allege conduct that is protected under CCP 425.16(e). If the defendant moves to strike the whole complaint without identifying smaller portions of the complaint, the court may deny the motion if it finds… Read More
While the act of demoting or firing a city employee or official is not protected activity, city council members' votes and debates are protected speech under the Anti-SLAPP statute. Here, a city treasurer sued city council members individually (and not the city) for acts taken to deprive her office of most of its functions and salary. Held, the claim against… Read More
This decision holds that the trial court properly denied defendants' Anti-SLAPP motion because defendants failed to show that the suit arose from protected speech. The suit sought declaratory and injunctive relief to invalidate AB 1936 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) which renamed Hastings College of Law (due to Hastings' alleged involvement in the massacre of Native Americans in Mendocino County). The legislation… Read More
