Forras, et al. v. Rauf, et al., No. 1:12-cv-00282-BJR (DC Federal Court)
Importance: None
Summary: Vincent Forras and Larry Klayman alleged that the defendants defamed them when, in defending a lawsuit in New York, they suggested that Forras and Klayman were bigots. After initially filing their lawsuit in DC Superior Court, they dismissed it and refiled it in federal court (in order to try to take advantage of the federal district court’s 3M decision holding that the anti-SLAPP statute did not apply in federal court).
The federal district court granted the defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion. It first joined three other federal district judges (Judge Walton in Boley, Judge Collyer in Farah and Judge Sullivan in Abbas) in holding that the DC anti-SLAPP statute applies in federal court (and thus rejected the reasoning of Judge Wilkins in 3M). It then held that the plaintiffs were not likely to prevail on the merits because the challenged statements were made during the course of litigation, and thus protected by the judicial proceedings privilege.
Relevant Pleadings:
- Forras Complaint filed in DC Federal Court (filed February 21, 2012)
- Defendants’ anti-SLAPP brief (filed May 15, 2013)
- Forras opposition brief (dated June 3, 2013)
- Defendants’ reply brief in support of their anti-SLAPP motion (filed June 13, 2013)
- District Court Opinion granting anti-SLAPP motion (filed Apri 18, 2014)
Blog Posts:
- Fourth Federal Court Judge Holds That DC Anti-SLAPP Statute Can Be Applied in Federal Court (posted May 5, 2014)
- Fits & Starts in Forras v. Rauf case (posted December 22, 2014)
