Anti-SLAPP

Anti-SLAPP
RC Phillips, DDA (Ret.)
October, 2021

In 2019, California’s appellate courts issued 42 published opinions interpreting the state’s anti-SLAPP statute. Cal. Civ. Proc. § 425.16 et. seq. Litigants filed at least 435 anti-SLAPP motions in California’s trial courts according to their reporting to the Judicial Council. California’s Supreme Court issued five substantive opinions interpreting the statute while the state’s appellate courts issued nearly 200 unpublished anti-SLAPP opinions. We briefly highlight the past year’s anti-SLAPP rulings for busy anti-SLAPP practitioners. 

Enacted in 1992 to protect the exercise of free speech and petitioning activities, California’s anti-SLAPP statute remains the strongest—and most frequently litigated—statutes of its kind in the nation. California’s statute follows a two-step process. In the first step—or “prong one”—the defendant must make a prima facie showing that allegations in the complaint arise from constitutionally-protected petitioning or free speech activity that support the plaintiff’s claims for relief. In the second step—or “prong two”—the burden shifts to the plaintiff to demonstrate that each challenged claim is legally sufficient and factually substantiated. The court, without resolving evidentiary conflicts, determines whether the plaintiff’s showing would be sufficient to sustain a favorable judgment. If not, the claim is stricken. Baral v. Schnitt, 1 Cal. 5th 376, 396 (2016). The anti-SLAPP statute is to be “construed broadly.” Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 425.16(a).   

Trio of Supreme Court Prong One Cases

In 2019, three unanimous opinions issued by the California Supreme Court provide specific guidance on how prong one of the statute operates.

In Rand Resources, LLC v. City of ....

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