Plaintiffs, members of the Topanga Christian Fellowship, filed suit in the Superior Court for Los Angeles County accusing the defendants of defamation, false light, intrusion upon seclusion, assault, battery, civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and public disclosure of private facts, arising out of controversy regarding control of the church. The defendants filed a special motion to strike the complaint pursuant to California’s Anti-SLAPP statute. The trial court granted the special motion to strike regarding the conspiracy cause of action but denied it with respect to all other causes of action. The trial court denied to award attorney fees to any party, emphasizing the minimal success enjoyed by the defendants through their motion to strike. The defendants appealed the trial court’s denial of attorney fees related to their partially successful Anti-SLAPP motion. The appellate court, discussing comparable fee-shifting statutes such as 42 USC 1988, held that the defendants’ success in opposing the conspiracy cause of action was so “minimal and insignificant” that the trial court’s decision to deny an attorney fee award was correct.
Endres v. Moran, 2006 DJDAR 739
January 25th, 2006Ramona Unified School District v. Tsiknas
January 15th, 2006In Ramona Unified School District v. Tsiknas, the Fourth Appellate District of the Court of Appeals ruled that a school district’s lawsuit (alleging barratry and abuse of process) against a private citizen and his attorney who had filed unsuccessful challenges to a development project and requested attorney’s fees was subject to a Motion to Strike pursuant to California’s Anti-SLAPP statute.
City of Los Angeles v. Animal Defense League
January 15th, 2006In City of Los Angeles v. Animal Defense League, California’s Second Appellate District of the Court of Appeals ruled that workplace violence petitions issued pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure 527.8 are not exempt from scrutiny under California’s Anti-SLAPP statute.