California: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

California has the oldest anti-SLAPP law in the country, enacted in 1992 and
still one of the broadest. Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16 lets a defendant
sued over an act "in furtherance of the right of petition or free speech...
in connection with a public issue" file a special motion to strike the
lawsuit early, before discovery grinds on. If the plaintiff can't show a
probability of prevailing, the claim is thrown out and the defendant
recovers attorney's fees.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

California's anti-SLAPP scheme lives in Code of Civil Procedure §§ 425.16
through 425.18. Section 425.16 is the core motion; § 425.17 carves two kinds
of lawsuit out of it entirely; § 425.18 creates a special "SLAPPback"
lawsuit for a defendant who beat a SLAPP and wants to go after the original
plaintiff. The core section was last substantively amended in 2011 (adding
the current commercial-speech exemption language) with a smaller technical
amendment in 2014.

What speech or conduct is protected

The statute defines protected activity broadly and tells courts to construe
it that way. It covers: (1) statements made before a legislative, executive,
or judicial proceeding, or any other official proceeding authorized by law;
(2) statements made in connection with an issue under consideration or
review by such a body; (3) statements made in a place open to the public or
a public forum in connection with an issue of public interest; and (4) any
other conduct in furtherance of the right of petition or free speech in
connection with a public issue. The law itself says: "The Legislature finds
and declares that it is in the public interest to encourage continued
participation in matters of public significance, and that this
participation should not be chilled through abuse of the judicial process.
To this end, this section shall be construed broadly."

The special motion to strike

You must file the special motion within 60 days of being served with the
complaint; a court can allow a later filing only in its discretion. The
clerk must schedule a hearing within 30 days of when the motion is served,
unless the court's own docket conditions require a later date. Filing the
motion automatically stays all discovery in the case. That stay lifts only
when the court rules on the motion, though a judge can allow specific,
limited discovery for good cause shown while the motion is pending.

Burden of proof

California uses a two-step test. First, the defendant must show the
challenged claim "arises from" an act in furtherance of petition or free
speech rights on a public issue. Second, if the defendant clears that bar,
the burden shifts to the plaintiff to show "a probability that the
plaintiff will prevail on the claim." The court decides this based on the
pleadings and any supporting or opposing affidavits stating the facts the
claim or defense rests on — not live testimony or a full evidentiary
hearing.

Attorney's fees

A prevailing defendant on a special motion to strike is entitled to recover
attorney's fees and costs — the statute uses "shall," making this
mandatory, not discretionary. The mirror-image protection exists too: if a
court finds the special motion itself was frivolous or filed solely to
cause delay, it must award the plaintiff its fees and costs instead.
Separately, § 425.18 lets a defendant who beat a SLAPP bring a distinct
"SLAPPback" claim for malicious prosecution or abuse of process against the
original plaintiff, with its own filing deadlines (120 days after service
of the SLAPPback complaint, or up to 6 months at the court's discretion).

Right to appeal

An order granting or denying a special motion to strike can be appealed
immediately, without waiting for the rest of the case to finish. There is
one sharp exception: if the trial court denies the motion because it finds
the action exempt under § 425.17 (the public-interest or commercial-speech
carve-outs described below), that particular denial cannot be appealed at
all — the statute expressly turns off the normal appeal right for that
situation.

Exemptions

Two categories of lawsuit fall outside § 425.16 entirely, no matter how
speech-related they look. First, an action brought solely in the public
interest or on behalf of the general public is exempt if the plaintiff
seeks no greater relief than the general public would get, the suit would
enforce an important public right and confer a real public benefit, and
private enforcement is necessary and would otherwise unfairly burden the
plaintiff. Second, claims against a person primarily in the business of
selling or leasing goods or services are exempt when they arise from factual
representations about that person's (or a competitor's) business made to
get a sale, lease, or commercial transaction, aimed at an actual or
potential customer. Both exemptions have their own carve-backs: they don't
apply to journalists, authors, or academic-journal writers gathering news,
to works of dramatic, literary, musical, or artistic expression (including
film, TV, and newspaper or magazine articles), or to nonprofits that get
more than half their annual revenue from government grants or contracts.

What trips people up

The 60-day clock is unforgiving. The statute lets a court permit a late
motion only "upon terms it deems proper," which courts read narrowly — miss
the window and you likely lose the fastest, cheapest way out of the case.

Losing on an exemption ruling can be final immediately. Most special
motion rulings can be appealed right away, which is normally good news for
whoever loses at the trial court. But § 425.17(e) specifically turns that
off when the loss is a denial based on the public-interest or
commercial-speech exemption — so if your motion is denied on exemption
grounds, you cannot use the usual interlocutory appeal to get another look
before the whole case proceeds.

Winning doesn't end the story if the case wasn't fully a SLAPP. The
statute lets a court strike individual causes of action rather than an
entire complaint, so a partially successful motion can leave other claims
alive and moving forward on their normal schedule.

Common questions

Does the anti-SLAPP motion stop the whole case, or just the discovery?
Filing the motion stays discovery automatically. The underlying claims
against you keep existing on the docket until the court actually rules on
the motion — filing it doesn't dismiss anything by itself.

Can I use this if I'm sued for a bad online review I wrote? Possibly.
Courts have found that consumer commentary in a public forum on an issue of
public interest can qualify under the fourth, catch-all category of
protected activity, but it depends heavily on the specific facts and
whether the topic is genuinely one of public interest rather than a purely
private dispute.

What if I lose the motion — do I have to pay the other side's fees?
Only if the court separately finds your motion was frivolous or filed
solely to delay the case. Losing the motion on the merits alone does not,
by itself, trigger a fee award against you.

Statutes and sources

• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 425.16 — "A cause of action against a person
  arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person's right
  of petition or free speech under the United States Constitution or the
  California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject
  to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the
  plaintiff has established that there is a probability that the plaintiff
  will prevail on the claim." Source:
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=425.16&lawCode=CCP
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 425.17 — "Section 425.16 does not apply to any
  action brought solely in the public interest or on behalf of the general
  public if all of the following conditions exist: (1) The plaintiff does
  not seek any relief greater than or different from the relief sought for
  the general public or a class of which the plaintiff is a member... (2)
  The action, if successful, would enforce an important right affecting the
  public interest, and would confer a significant benefit... (3) Private
  enforcement is necessary and places a disproportionate financial burden on
  the plaintiff in relation to the plaintiff's stake in the matter." Source:
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=425.17&lawCode=CCP
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 425.18 — "\"SLAPPback\" means any cause of
  action for malicious prosecution or abuse of process arising from the
  filing or maintenance of a prior cause of action that has been dismissed
  pursuant to a special motion to strike under Section 425.16." Source:
  https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=425.18&lawCode=CCP
  (accessed 2026-07-05).