Anti-SLAPP Laws in Minnesota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Minnesota's UPEPA lives in Minn. Stat. §§ 554.07 through 554.19, enacted by the 2024 legislature (Laws 2024, ch. 123, art. 18) effective May 25, 2024. The same act repealed the state's old 1994 anti-SLAPP statute (former §§ 554.01-554.06), which the Minnesota Supreme Court had held unconstitutional in 2017 for violating the right to a jury trial by requiring pretrial factual findings on the merits. UPEPA was drafted nationally specifically to avoid that defect, replacing case-weighing with Rule 12/Rule 56-style screens. No section of the chapter has been amended since the 2024 enactment.

What speech or conduct is protected

The Act applies to a cause of action based on: (1) a communication in a legislative, executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental proceeding; (2) a communication on an issue under consideration or review by such a body; or (3) the exercise of the right of free speech, press, assembly, petition, or association on a matter of public concern. That broad grant is then narrowed by an unusually long exemptions list (below), so the practical scope of Minnesota's law is narrower than the opening definition alone suggests.

The special motion for expedited relief

File within 60 days of being served with the pleading that asserts the claim, or later if you can show good cause. The court must hold a hearing within 60 days of the motion being filed (extended if the court allows discovery, or for other good cause), and must rule within 60 days after that hearing. The moment the motion is filed, every other proceeding between the parties — including discovery, other pending motions, and hearings — is automatically stayed, and that stay continues through any appeal. A party can still get limited discovery during the stay by showing specific information is necessary to resolve the motion and isn't otherwise available.

Burden of proof

Minnesota's test runs in three parts. First, the movant must establish that the Act applies under § 554.08(b). Second, the responding party gets a chance to show one of the § 554.08(c) exemptions takes the claim back out of the Act's coverage. Third, assuming the Act still applies, the court must dismiss with prejudice if either the responding party fails to make a prima facie case on every essential element of the claim, or the movant affirmatively shows the responding party failed to state a claim at all, or that there's no genuine issue of material fact and the movant wins as a matter of law. This tracks ordinary Rule 12 and Rule 56 standards rather than a distinct "probability of prevailing" test — a deliberate design choice to survive the jury-trial challenge that doomed the 1994 law.

Attorney's fees

An award of court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and reasonable litigation expenses is mandatory for a prevailing movant. The same mandatory award goes the other way — to the responding party — only if the court finds the motion was frivolous or filed solely to delay the case. A voluntary dismissal with prejudice of the challenged claim while a motion is pending counts as the movant prevailing for fee purposes.

Right to appeal

Only the moving party gets a statutory right to an immediate appeal, and only from an order denying the motion in whole or in part — filed within 30 days of the order. The statute doesn't create a matching interlocutory appeal right for a responding party who loses the motion (i.e., whose claim gets dismissed); ordinary appellate rules would apply once that dismissal becomes a final, appealable judgment.

Exemptions

Minnesota's exemptions list, in § 554.08(c), is longer than most other UPEPA states'. It excludes: claims against a government unit or official acting in an official capacity; government enforcement actions protecting against an imminent health or safety threat; claims against a business arising from its own sale or lease of goods or services; a crime victim's suit against a perpetrator; real-property title and possession disputes; bodily-injury, wrongful-death, or survival claims (unless they involve reputational damage); insurance-code and insurance-contract claims; common-law fraud; family-law matters and related protective-order actions; employment and labor-law claims; consumer-protection claims; and any claim brought under federal law. A carve-back then restores UPEPA coverage — even inside the goods/services, fraud, and consumer-protection exemptions — for claims targeting journalistic, artistic, or political works, and for claims targeting consumer opinions, reviews, or ratings of a business.

What trips people up

The exemptions list is long enough to swallow cases that look covered at first glance. A dispute that clearly involves "speech on a matter of public concern" can still fall outside the Act entirely if it's really a family-law, employment, insurance, or consumer-protection claim in disguise — read all twelve carve-outs in § 554.08(c) before assuming the Act applies.

The appeal right runs one way only. The statute lets the moving party appeal a denial immediately; it does not hand the responding party a matching immediate appeal if the motion is granted and their claim is dismissed. Don't assume Minnesota mirrors states that make both grants and denials interlocutorily appealable.

A "frivolous" fee award against the moving party requires an actual court finding, not just a loss. Losing the special motion on the merits alone doesn't shift fees to the responding party — the court has to separately find the motion was frivolous or filed solely to delay.

Common questions

Can this cover a negative consumer review I posted about a business? Often yes. The Act's carve-back specifically restores coverage for claims "related to the communication... of consumer opinions or commentary... reviews or ratings of businesses," even though claims against sellers about their own goods or services are otherwise exempt.

What happens if the court misses its 60-day hearing or ruling deadlines? The statute sets those deadlines for the court, but its own text doesn't create a separate appeal right tied to a missed deadline — the appeal right in § 554.15 is tied only to an order denying the motion.

If I lose my motion, do I owe the other side's attorney's fees? Only if the court makes a specific finding that your motion was frivolous or filed solely to delay the case. A loss on the merits by itself doesn't trigger fee-shifting against you.

Statutes and sources

• Minn. Stat. § 554.08(b) — "sections 554.07 to 554.19 apply 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; (2) communication on an issue under consideration or review in a legislative, executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental proceeding; or (3) exercise of the right of freedom of speech or of the press, the right to assemble or petition, or the right of association, guaranteed by the United States Constitution or the Minnesota Constitution on a matter of public concern." Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/554.08 (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Minn. Stat. § 554.08(c)-(d) — "Sections 554.07 to 554.19 do not apply to a cause of action: (1) against a governmental unit or an employee or agent of a governmental unit acting or purporting to act in an official capacity... (12) for any claim brought under federal law. ... Sections 554.07 to 554.19 apply to a cause of action asserted under paragraph (c), clause (3), (8), or (11), when the cause of action is... a legal action against a person related to the communication... of consumer opinions or commentary... reviews or ratings of businesses." Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/554.08 (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Minn. Stat. § 554.09 — "Not later than 60 days after a party is served with a complaint... or at a later time on a showing of good cause, 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://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/554.09 (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Minn. Stat. § 554.10 — "[O]n the filing of a motion under section 554.09: (1) all other proceedings between the moving party and responding party, including discovery and a pending hearing or motion, are stayed... A stay under paragraph (a) remains in effect until entry of an order ruling on the motion... and expiration of the time under section 554.15 for the moving party to appeal the order." Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/554.10 (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Minn. Stat. § 554.11 — the court must hear the motion no later than 60 days after filing, unless it orders a later hearing to allow discovery or for other good cause. Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/554.11 (accessed 2026-08-13).
• Minn. Stat. § 554.13 — "[T]he court shall dismiss with prejudice a cause of action... if: (1) the moving party establishes... that sections 554.07 to 554.19 apply; (2) the responding party fails to establish... that sections 554.07 to 554.19 do not apply; and (3) either: (i) the responding party fails to establish a prima facie case as to each essential element... or (ii) the moving party establishes that: (A) the responding party failed to state a cause of action... or (B) 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://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/554.13 (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Minn. Stat. § 554.14 — "The court shall rule on a motion under section 554.09 not later than 60 days after a hearing under section 554.11." Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/554.14 (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Minn. Stat. § 554.15 — "A moving party may appeal as a matter of right from an order denying, in whole or in part, a motion under section 554.09. The appeal must be filed not later than 30 days after entry of the order." Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/554.15 (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Minn. Stat. § 554.16 — "[T]he court shall award court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and reasonable litigation expenses related to the motion: (1) to the moving party if the moving party prevails on the motion; or (2) to the responding party if the responding party prevails on the motion and the court finds that the motion was frivolous or filed solely with intent to delay the proceeding." Source: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/554.16 (accessed 2026-07-05).