California's anti-SLAPP statute, Code of Civil Procedure, section 425.16, provides important
protections for defendants being sued for certain protected free speech
or petitioning activities. Under this statute, a defendant can move to strike the plaintiff's
complaint. To succeed, the defendant must show its actions fell within one of the protected
categories. If the defendant does so, the plaintiff must then show a likelihood of
prevailing in the litigation. An order granting or denying an anti-SLAPP motion is appealable.
Despite the apparent simplicity of this motion, numerous complex issues often arise, and the
California Supreme Court has taken numerous appeals in the past 25 years to try to clarify the
law. Nonetheless, this statute remains an important tool to protect against lawsuits arising out
of protected First Amendment activities.
