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Remember Dean v Maddow?

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Leslie Machado

The squabble between the former rocker and well-known liberal MSNBC host spilled over into two courts.  (For all the gory details, see my prior posts here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here).

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The DC anti-SLAPP Statute: A Two Year Retrospective

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Leslie Machado

It has been two years since the District of Columbia’s anti-SLAPP statute first became effective.  To date, anti-SLAPP motions have been granted in a Superior Court case (Lehan v. Fox), denied in a Superior Court case (Newmyer v. Huntington), granted in a federal court case (Farah v. Esquire), and denied in two federal court cases (Sherrod v. Breitbart and 3M v. Boulter).  Anti-SLAPP motions have also been made in five other Superior Court cases: Snyder v. City Paper (resolved when the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the suit); Dean v. NBC Universal (dismissed as a sanction for the plaintiff’s refusal to pay the …

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Roundup on Pending Cases Involving the DC anti-SLAPP Statute

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Leslie Machado

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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Senator Kyl Proposes a Federal anti-SLAPP Statute

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Leslie Machado

While we wait for the opening briefs in the Sherrod and Davis appeals, on August 2, Senator Jon Kyl (R-ARIZ), introduced the Free Press Act of 2012 which, if enacted, would create a federal anti-SLAPP statute.  As explained by the First Amendment Center, “[u]nder the measure, the media could file a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that ‘arises in whole or in part’ from reporting ‘on a matter of public concern or that relates to a public official or figure.’” 

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Media Want to Weigh In on Sherrod and Davis Appeals

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Leslie Machado

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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Update on Dean v. NBC Cases

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Leslie Machado

It has been a few weeks since I checked in on the Dean v. NBC cases.  As you may recall, after significant briefing on the anti-SLAPP statute in the Superior Court, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their suit there because they had refiled it in federal court (where Judge Wilkins and Judge Leon had held (here and here) that the anti-SLAPP statute was inapplicable).

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DC Circuit Denies Motion to Consolidate Sherrod v. Breitbart and 3M v. Davis appeals

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Leslie Machado

This morning, the DC Circuit denied the motion to consolidate filed by the appellants in 3M v. Davis.  The per curiam order was issued by Judges Tatel, Garland and Brown.  As a result of the order, the two cases will proceed independently, according to the briefing schedule in each.  Of course, a third case is also pending in the DC Circuit: the appeal of the district court’s decision in Dean v. Esquire which granted the defendants’ anti-SLAPP motion.

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

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Leslie Machado

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 Judge Stays Duplicative Dean v. NBC Action Until Resolution of Parallel Superior Court Case

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Leslie Machado

Judge Leon today stayed the federal court case captioned Dean v. NBC until the previously-filed and pending Superior Court action between the same parties is resolved.  The Court’s order reads: MINUTE ORDER granting nunc pro tunc 2 Defendants’ Motion to Stay or, in the Alternative, for an Order Extending Time to Answer or Respond to the Complaint. It is hereby ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED; and it is further ORDERED that this action is stayed pending final resolution of Dean v. NBC Universal et al., Case Number 2011 CA 006055 B, currently pending in the Superior Court of the …

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Maddow Defendants File Reply Brief in Support of Anti-SLAPP Motion

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Leslie Machado

Rachel Maddow and the related NBC defendants today filed their reply brief in support of their anti-SLAPP motion. After initially arguing that the plaintiffs’ opposition had failed to respond to the majority of their arguments, they address the two attacks on the statute – that it violates the Home Rule and is inapplicable in federal court. Defendants first argue that the Home Rule and its legislative history “are devoid of any indication that Congress intended to prohibit the Council from enacting legislation that conferred substantive rights on defendants that are targeted with meritless litigation as a result of speaking on …

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