Fighting SLAPPs, Protecting the First Amendment
Whether or not a pre-litigation demand letter is extortionate as a matter of law has been a hot topic in anti-SLAPP litigation over the past ten years.
In 2006, the Supreme Court held that the anti-SLAPP law does not apply … Read the rest
UPDATE: On August 13, 2014, the California Supreme Court unanimously voted to grant a petition for review in this case, to address the following issue: “Did votes by city officials to approve a contract constitute conduct protected under Code of … Read the rest
Late last month, the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Three, ruled in CalPERS v. Moody’s that Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service Inc. (S&P and Moody’s) must face the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s (CalPERS) $1 billion … Read the rest
Evan Mascagni and Mark Goldowitz
In D’Arrigo Bros. of California v. United Farmworkers of America, D’Arrigo sued UFW for breach of contract. UFW moved to strike the complaint under the anti-SLAPP law, but the trial court denied the motion. … Read the rest
On Friday Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Andrew Hurwitz issued an opinion in Obsidian Finance Group, LLC. v. Cox. His opening line was as follows:
“This case requires us to address a question of first impression: What First … Read the rest
by Evan Mascagni and Mark Goldowitz
The Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division 2, issued a published opinion last week in Mission Springs Water District v. Verjil reversing its earlier rule denying the applicability of the anti-SLAPP law to … Read the rest
The Second Circuit has now joined the First, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits in holding that state anti-SLAPP laws confer substantive laws under the Erie doctrine, and are therefore applicable in federal court.
In Liberty Synergistics Inc. v. Microflo Ltd., … Read the rest
Last week, a federal district judge in the Central District of California held that actions aimed at unionizing employees was protected activity under California’s anti-SLAPP statute. In Magic Laundry Services, Inc. v. Workers United Service Employees International Union, 2013 U.S. … Read the rest
Putlizer Prize-winning journalist Anthony Lewis passed away last week at the age of 85. Lewis famously published Make No Law in 1991 about the Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan and how it revolutionized American libel law. While … Read the rest
In Dwight R. v. Christy B., the Court of Appeal recently addressed the application of California’s anti-SLAPP law to allegedly illegal acts. Some confusion on this issue arises from the California Supreme Court’s ruling in Flatley v. … Read the rest