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Anti-SLAPP

Mar 2024

Missouri Legislature Considers Anti-SLAPP Bill

Jean Maneke

There are at least two other bills pending in the Missouri legislature containing nearly identical anti-SLAPP language, one before the House and one before the Senate, but neither of those bills has been set for a committee hearing yet and it gets more and more unlikely that they will move quickly once spring break is…

Mar 2024

Broadcaster Wins Summary Judgment and Attorneys’ Fees Under New York’s Expanded Anti-SLAPP Statute

Jacquelyn Schell and Chad Bowman

The news reports about sexual assault claims against the Catholic Church were protected by the fair report privilege and plaintiff failed to adduce any evidence of gross irresponsibility.

Mar 2024

Prosecutor’s Defamation Suit SLAPPed On Appeal

Cam Ruk

The Supreme Court of Texas granted a newspaper’s anti-SLAPP motion, dismissing a state prosecutor’s claim that he was defamed in an article discussing a wrongful murder conviction.

Mar 2024

Massachusetts High Court: Motive is Irrelevant Under Anti-SLAPP Law

Jeffrey J. Pyle

In Bristol Asphalt v. Rochester Bituminous Products, the court overturned a controversial 2017 decision that required evaluation of the SLAPP filer’s “primary motivating goal” for bringing suit. The court also held that appellate review of anti-SLAPP decisions will henceforth be de novo, not for abuse of discretion.

Mar 2024

Anti-SLAPP Developments in the UK and Europe and What It’s Like Being Slapped in Greece

David Hooper

There are things to learn from the markers set out by the EU and Council of Europe as to the identifying features of SLAPPs and how to produce a draft law acceptable to a wide spectrum of differing approaches to anti-SLAPP law.

Mar 2024

D.C. Court Affirms Anti-SLAPP Dismissal, and Attorneys’ Fees, in Case About Newsroom Manager’s Workplace Conduct

Alia Smith

The D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a pair of lawsuits, under the D.C. Anti-SLAPP Act, alleging claims of defamation, employment discrimination, false light, and tortious interference arising from expressions critical of a newsroom manager’s conduct at public radio station WAMU. This is the first case counsel is aware of extending the D.C.…

Jan 2024

Controversial Politician Kari Lake Loses Anti-SLAPP Motion, Showing Flaws in Arizona Statute

Gregg Leslie

The recent denial of a controversial Arizona anti-SLAPP motion by politician Kari Lake has demonstrated the flaws and unanswered questions hidden in the Arizona Anti-SLAPP law, which was amended in 2022 and has yet to be the subject of an appellate decision.

Jan 2024

Dismissal of Golfer’s Defamation Suit and Fee Award Tees Up 11th Circuit’s Consideration of Anti-SLAPP in Federal Court

Linda Riedemann Norbut

The availability of Florida anti-SLAPP protection in federal court is teed up for resolution by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals following the award of sanctions to media defendants who prevailed on claims by professional golfer Patrick Reed.

Jan 2024

New York Times Awarded Nearly $400,000 in Trump Suit

Maya Gandhi

The decision arose from a lawsuit alleging that The Times had engaged in tortious interference by persuading Mr. Trump’s niece, Mary, to provide family financial documents to the reporters despite a confidentiality agreement that Mary and other family members had entered into as part of a settlement of an estate dispute.

Oct 2023

“This Stuff Is Incomprehensible”: Will Mass. High Court Reconsider its Anti-SLAPP Jurisprudence?

Jeffrey J. Pyle

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court may soon simplify its Byzantine interpretation of the Commonwealth’s Anti-SLAPP Law, if the justices’ questions at a recent oral argument are anything to go by.