Delaware: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

Delaware has a modern anti-SLAPP law, but it's a recent replacement.
Before September 15, 2025, Delaware's only anti-SLAPP protection was a
narrow statute limited to zoning and permit disputes, with no special
motion, no automatic stay, and no fee-shifting. The legislature replaced
it with the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA), 10 Del. C.
§§ 6001-6014, effective immediately on signing. A defendant sued over a
communication in a government proceeding or over speech, press, petition,
or association activity on a matter of public concern can file a special
motion for expedited relief within 60 days of being served. Filing the
motion automatically pauses discovery. The court must throw out the claim
with prejudice unless the plaintiff can show a real case on every
element. A prevailing defendant gets mandatory fees — and, if the suit
was brought to harass or intimidate, mandatory punitive damages too. A
defendant who loses the motion can appeal, but only within a tight
10-day window.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Delaware's anti-SLAPP statute is the Uniform Public Expression Protection
Act (UPEPA), 10 Del. C. §§ 6001-6014, enacted by 2025 Senate Bill 80 (85
Del. Laws, c. 217). The Governor signed it September 15, 2025, and it took
effect that same day — applying to any civil action filed, or any cause
of action asserted, on or after that date. It replaced a much narrower
prior statute, former §§ 8136-8138, which only protected statements made
by or against a "public applicant or permittee" in a zoning or permitting
context and provided no special motion, stay, or fee award — that old law
still governs a cause of action asserted before September 15, 2025, but
has no application going forward.

What speech or conduct is protected

The statute covers a lawsuit based on: a communication in a legislative,
executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental proceeding; a
communication on an issue under consideration or review by such a
proceeding; or your exercise of the right to free speech, free press,
assembly, petition, or association on a matter of public concern. This is
the standard, broad UPEPA scope.

The special motion procedure

The vehicle is a "special motion for expedited relief to dismiss." You
must file it within 60 days of being served with the complaint, or later
if you can show good cause. Filing it automatically stays discovery and
nearly all other proceedings between you and the plaintiff. That stay
continues through any appeal of the ruling on the motion. A court can
still allow narrow, specifically-justified discovery during the stay if a
party shows the information is genuinely necessary and not otherwise
available. The court must hold a hearing within 60 days of the filing and
rule within 60 days after that hearing.

Burden of proof

The court must dismiss the claim with prejudice if three things are all
true: the moving party shows the chapter applies to the claim; the
responding party fails to show one of the chapter's exemptions applies;
and either the responding party fails to establish a prima facie case on
every essential element of its own claim, or the moving party separately
shows the claim fails to state a claim at all, or that there's no real
factual dispute and the moving party wins as a matter of law. The court
decides this using the same kind of record it would use on a
summary-judgment motion.

Attorney's fees

A prevailing moving party is entitled to mandatory fees: the statute says
the court "shall award" court costs, attorneys' fees, and reasonable
litigation expenses related to the motion. A responding party who wins
the motion only gets fees if the court separately finds the motion itself
was frivolous or filed solely to delay the case. Delaware goes further
than most UPEPA states: if a prevailing movant also shows the underlying
suit was commenced or kept alive specifically to harass, intimidate,
punish, or maliciously inhibit the movant's speech or petition rights,
the court MUST award punitive damages too — not just fees.

Right to appeal

A losing moving party can appeal a denial — in whole or in part — as a
matter of right, without waiting for the rest of the case to finish. But
the window is unusually tight: only 10 days from entry of the order,
shorter than most other UPEPA states' appeal deadlines. Miss it and the
interlocutory appeal right is gone.

Exemptions

Five kinds of claims are carved out of the chapter on their face: claims
against a government unit or employee acting in an official capacity;
claims brought BY a government unit or employee to enforce any law,
regulation, or ordinance; claims against someone primarily in the
business of selling or leasing goods or services, arising from a
sale/lease-related communication; common law fraud claims; and claims
under Delaware's Deceptive Trade Practices Act. But there's an important
claw-back: the last three of those exemptions don't apply — meaning
anti-SLAPP protection IS available — when the claim targets consumer
opinions, commentary, complaint evaluations, or reviews or ratings of a
business. Online-review speech stays protected even against a commercial
defendant.

What trips people up

The 10-day appeal window is unusually short. Several secondary
sources online report a 30-day deadline for Delaware — that's wrong. The
official code and the enrolled bill both set the deadline at 10 days
after the order, one of the shortest in any UPEPA state.

Punitive damages are mandatory, not just possible, once the harassment
finding is made. This is a real strengthening beyond the standard
UPEPA model — most states only mandate fee-shifting, leaving punitive
damages (if available at all) discretionary.

Whether you're a "commercial" defendant doesn't automatically defeat
the motion. The commercial-speech, fraud, and deceptive-trade-practices
exemptions all snap back into inapplicability — meaning you can still use
the special motion — when the suit is really about consumer reviews,
complaints, or ratings.

Common questions

Does this cover a lawsuit over a comment I made at a public hearing
opposing a zoning variance? Yes — that's a communication in or
connected to a governmental proceeding, squarely within the statute's
scope.

I run a business and got sued over a negative online review I
wrote about a competitor. Am I protected even though I'm a commercial
actor? Likely yes. The statute's claw-back provision keeps the special
motion available specifically for claims about consumer opinions,
commentary, or reviews of businesses, even though a general
commercial-speech exemption otherwise exists.

If my motion is denied, how fast do I need to appeal? Very fast —
within 10 days of the order. That's much shorter than in many other
states with similar laws, so don't wait.

Statutes and sources

• 10 Del. C. § 6002(b)-(d) — "this chapter applies to a cause of
  action asserted in a civil action against a person based on the
  person's: (1) Communication in a legislative, executive, judicial,
  administrative, or other governmental proceeding... This chapter
  applies to a cause of action asserted under paragraph (c)(3), (4), or
  (5)... when the cause of action is a legal action against a person
  related to the communication, gathering, receiving, posting, or
  processing of consumer opinions or commentary..." Source:
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c060/index.html (accessed
  2026-07-05).
• 10 Del. C. § 6003 — "Not later than 60 days after a party is served
  with a complaint... the party may file a special motion for expedited
  relief to dismiss the cause of action or part of the cause of action."
  Source: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c060/index.html (accessed
  2026-07-05).
• 10 Del. C. § 6004(a)-(b) — "on the filing of a motion under § 6003
  of this title: (1) All other proceedings between the moving party and
  responding party, including discovery and a pending hearing or motion,
  are stayed... A stay... remains in effect until entry of an order ruling
  on the motion... and expiration of the time under § 6009 of this title
  for the moving party to appeal the order." Source:
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c060/index.html (accessed
  2026-07-05).
• 10 Del. C. § 6007(a) — "the court shall dismiss with prejudice a
  cause of action... if... the responding party fails to establish a
  prima facie case as to each essential element of the cause of action;
  or... there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving
  party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law..." Source:
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c060/index.html (accessed
  2026-07-05).
• 10 Del. C. § 6009 — "A moving party may appeal as a matter of right
  from an order denying, in whole or in part, a motion under § 6003 of
  this title. The appeal must be filed not later than 10 days after entry
  of the order." Source: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c060/index.html
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• 10 Del. C. § 6010 — "the court shall award court costs, reasonable
  attorneys' fees, and reasonable litigation expenses related to the
  motion... the court shall award punitive damages to the moving party
  if... the court finds that the moving party has demonstrated that the
  responding party's cause of action was commenced or continued for the
  purpose of harassing, intimidating, punishing, or otherwise
  maliciously inhibiting the moving party's free exercise of speech,
  petition, or association rights." Source:
  https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c060/index.html (accessed
  2026-07-05).
• 10 Del. C. § 6014 — "This chapter does not affect a cause of action
  asserted before September 15, 2025, in a civil action or a motion under
  §§ 8136 through 8138 of this title regarding the cause of action."
  Source: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title10/c060/index.html (accessed
  2026-07-05).