Tag Archives: Farah

Will Farah v. Esquire Appeal Resolve “Erie” Question?

While the Sherrod v. Breitbart appeal has attracted a lot of attention at the DC Circuit, there is another case that could resolve whether the DC anti-SLAPP statute applies in federal court: Farah v. Esquire.  There, the plaintiffs/appellants are appealing the district court’s decision granting the defendants’ anti-SLAPP and 12(b)(6) motions and dismissing their false light, defamation, and Lanham Act causes of action. As alleged in the Complaint, a May 2011 post on Esquire’s politics blog contained fictional statements by publisher Joseph Farah that he would destroy the first-run print of Jerome Corsi’s book, Where’s the Birth Certificate? The Case …

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Abbas Suit Focuses On Whether DC anti-SLAPP Statute Can Be Used in Federal Court

A series of filings in response to the defamation suit filed by Yasser Abbas against the Foreign Policy Group and Jonathan Schanzer have now focused the DC federal court on the same question pending before the DC Circuit in Sherrod v. Breitbart: does the DC anti-SLAPP statute apply in federal court?  

Roundup on Pending Cases Involving the DC anti-SLAPP Statute

After a period of relative quiet, there has been a flurry of activity in the District of Columbia federal and state courts in cases involving the DC anti-SLAPP statute.  Here’s a summary of where the various cases stand:              •           Sherrod v. Breitbart:  The case drawing the most attention is the pending appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Sherrod v. Breitbart.  There, the defendants/appellants have filed their opening brief; the District of Columbia has filed an amicus brief; Public Citizen and the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation’s Capital have filed …

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Lanny Davis Drops High-Profile Appeal of Denial of Anti-SLAPP Motion

With apologies to Queen, another anti-SLAPP suit has bitten the dust.  Unlike the Lehan v. Fox Television Stations case, in which the defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion was granted, however, the high-profile squabble between 3M and Lanny Davis has ended because of a settlement. 

Media Want to Weigh In on Sherrod and Davis Appeals

A group of leading news organizations and a related professional organization have asked the DC Circuit for leave to file an amicus brief in support of the appellants in Sherrod v. Breitbart and 3M v. Davis.  Their motion explains that they “will argue that the District of Columbia Anti-SLAPP Act applies in federal court to diversity actions.”  While this issue will be briefed, at length, by the parties to the appeals, the media’s motion argues that they “bring substantial experience to bear on the issues presented here – not simply in terms of legal expertise, but also in terms of …

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Farah Lawyer Calls Adverse Decision “Significantly Flawed and Intellectually Dishonest” and Files Appeal to DC Circuit

As I predicted last week, the plaintiff in Farah v. Esquire has quickly appealed an adverse decision to the DC Circuit, where it joins the appeals filed by the defendants in Sherrod v. Breitbart and 3M v. Davis. In those cases, however, the defendants appealed the district court’s denial of their anti-SLAPP motions whereas here the defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion was granted. And, in those cases, the plaintiffs have moved to dismiss the appeals, here and here. After the adverse decision, Farah’s lawyer, Larry Klayman, was quoted as calling the decision “significantly flawed and intellectually dishonest” and “so poorly reasoned it …

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Federal Court Grants Anti-SLAPP Motion in Farah v. Esquire Case

Judge Collyer today became the first federal court judge to grant an anti-SLAPP motion in federal court. Previously, Judge Leon denied an anti-SLAPP motion filed in Sherrod v. Breitbart and Judge Wilkins denied an anti-SLAPP motion filed in 3M v. Boulter. (Of course, Judge King of the DC Superior Court granted an anti-SLAPP motion in Lehan v. Fox). The Farah opinion explains that the anti-SLAPP statute “‘incorporates substantive rights with regard to a defendant’s ability to fend off lawsuits filed by one side of a political or public policy debate aimed to punish the opponent or prevent the expression of …

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Defendants in Farah v. Esquire Advise Court of Their Interpretation of Judge Leon’s Decision in Sherrod

The defendants in the Farah v. Esquire suit today advised the Court of Judge Leon’s “Statement of Reasons” issued last week in the Sherrod v. Breitbart matter with a “Notice Regarding New Authority.” In it, they note that Judge Leon explained that he denied the anti-SLAPP motion there, in part, because he found it could not be applied retroactively. The Esquire defendants assert that retroactivity is not an issue in their case because both the publication and the resulting lawsuit were after the statute’s effective date. The Esquire defendants also argue that Judge Leon’s “opinion in context suggests that because the …

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Plaintiff in Farah v. Esquire Provides Court Its View of 3M Decision

The plaintiff in the Farah v. Esquire case today informed the Court of Judge Wilkins’ decision in 3M v. Boulter. That decision, of course, denied an anti-SLAPP motion on the basis that it conflicts with Rule 12 and 56 and thus cannot be applied in federal diversity suits. In his filing, the Farah plaintiff argues that “[i]t is now the law of this Court that the Anti-SLAPP Act is not applicable. Thus, the Court should respectfully summarily deny Defendant’s special motion to dismiss, which was filed on August 26, 2011, so that discovery may proceed.” While the Farah court can …

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DC Attorney General Moves To Intervene In Third Case To Defend Constitutionality of Anti-SLAPP Statute

The DC Attorney General today moved to intervene in the Dean v. NBC Universal case “solely for the limited purpose of presenting argument to defend the validity of the Anti-SLAPP Act of 2010, a statute enacted by the unanimous vote of the DC Council and signed by Mayor Gray that sat before Congress for the required period of review and took legal effect earlier this year.” This is the third suit in which the DC Attorney General has moved to intervene to defend the constitutionality of the statute. In August 2011, it moved to intervene in the Snyder suit. That …

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