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Notable Cases
SLAPP Suits: Two Examples
Anti-SLAPP suit legislation refers to laws enacted in response to "SLAPP" suits. SLAPP is an acronym for "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation." A typical SLAPP suit occurs when a developer sues a homeowner for defamation after the homeowner publicly criticizes the developer's latest project. The intent of the SLAPP lawsuit is to stifle public debate because of the fear of being sued. California enacted anti-SLAPP suit legislation in 1992.
McManis Faulkner was responsible for a landmark anti-SLAPP suit
appellate decision. Our client, employing another attorney at
the time, had filed a defamation lawsuit after the San Jose
Mercury News printed an article implying that she was involved
in the death of her fiancé. Her case was dismissed under
the new anti-SLAPP suit law. She then hired McManis Faulkner
to appeal the decision.
We argued that the law should be limited to instances where there is a "public issue" at stake - it should not apply to private disputes in which the public has no interest. The appellate court agreed, and issued a detailed decision discussing the history of the statute and the "narrow" manner in which it should be interpreted. As a result, our client's lawsuit was reinstated.
However, the interests who had sponsored the anti-SLAPP suit legislation did not approve of the decision.* They persuaded the legislature to amend the statute and reverse the effect of the decision. As a result of this amendment, the California Supreme Court stated that the law should be applied broadly. Our client's case could no longer be cited as precedent.
Realizing the power of this statute, McManis Faulkner also employed
it in a malicious prosecution case. We represented a group of
San Jose attorneys who were sued after they obtained a jury
verdict of over $3 million against a group of defendants in
a fraud case. Two persons who were dismissed from the case turned
around and sued the attorneys.
MF filed an anti-SLAPP suit motion, using the "broad"
interpretation now required by law. To that time, there had
not been any reported malicious prosecution cases in which the
anti-SLAPP suit statute was used. The court found that the motion
was applicable, and ruled in favor of our clients. The case
was promptly dismissed and our clients were awarded attorney's
fees.
* The news industry, among others, saw the anti-SLAPP suit statute as a powerful deterrent to protect media defendants from defamation suits.
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