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

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Leslie Machado

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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Sherrod v. Breitbart Appeal Ready for Oral Argument

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Leslie Machado

The Sherrod v. Brietbart appeal is now fully briefed (opening brief here, opposition brief here, and reply brief here) and ready for the oral argument, scheduled for March 15, 2013.  (The case has also attracted amicus briefs, including from the District of Columbia, the ACLU and Public Citizen, and a host of news organizations).  The threshold question in Sherrod is whether the denial of an anti-SLAPP motion is immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine of Cohen v. Beneficial Loan Corp.  (The DC Court of Appeals recently held that it was not).  Under Cohen, the appellants must show that the …

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

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Leslie Machado

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. 

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Breitbart Defendants File Opening Brief in DC Circuit

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Leslie Machado

The defendants in the Sherrod v. Breitbart case have filed their opening brief in the DC Circuit.  As you may recall, Judge Leon’s Statement of Reasons, explaining why he denied the anti-SLAPP motion in his minute Order, stated that it was denied because: (a) the lawsuit was filed six weeks before the statute became effective and there was no indication that it was intended to apply retroactively; (b) the statute is inapplicable in federal court, which is required to apply federal procedural law under Erie; and (c) the motion was not timely made. Almost ½ of the appellate brief is …

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