California Supreme Court Holds Anti-SLAPP Reaches Distinct Claims

In a watershed opinion, the California Supreme Court resolved a split among appellate districts to make it easier for defendants to win anti-SLAPP rulings when the case involves more than speech. In Baral v. Schnitt, Case No. S225090, 2016 WL 4074081, *1 (Cal. Sup. Ct. Aug. 1, 2016), the Court held that defendants may bring anti-SLAPP motions to strike distinct claims within a cause of action, even if the cause of action itself cannot be dismissed in its entirety. As a result of the decision, plaintiffs may no longer defeat anti-SLAPP motions by artfully pleading causes of action containing mixed allegations of protected and unprotected activity.

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