Nebraska: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

Nebraska has an anti-SLAPP statute, but it protects a much narrower slice of
speech than most people expect. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-21,241 to 25-21,246,
enacted in 1994 and unchanged since, only reaches a damages lawsuit filed by
a "public applicant or permittee" — someone who applied for or received a
government permit, zoning change, lease, license, or certificate — against a
defendant who reported on, commented on, challenged, or opposed that permit
or license. There's no separate "special motion to strike." A defendant
instead uses an ordinary motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment,
and the court must grant it unless the plaintiff shows the underlying claim
has a real legal basis. The court must give the motion expedited,
preferential scheduling, but discovery isn't automatically paused, and
there's no statutory right to an immediate appeal if the motion is denied. A
defendant who beats a meritless suit under this statute can also sue back
for costs, fees, and — if the suit was meant to harass or intimidate — added
compensatory damages.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Nebraska's anti-SLAPP statute is Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-21,241 to 25-21,246,
enacted by Laws 1994, LB 665, and unamended since (each section's own
history line shows only that one 1994 act). It's a home-grown, narrowly
targeted statute — not a version of the newer Uniform Public Expression
Protection Act (UPEPA) that a growing number of other states have adopted. A
2025 bill, LB 493, would have repealed this statute entirely and replaced it
with UPEPA, but it was indefinitely postponed in April 2026 and did not
become law.

What speech or conduct is protected

The statute only covers a lawsuit for damages brought BY a "public applicant
or permittee" — someone who applied for or obtained a permit, zoning
change, lease, license, certificate, or other government entitlement, or
someone materially connected to that person. It protects a defendant's
efforts to "report on, comment on, rule on, challenge, or oppose" that
person's application or permission. If you're sued over a comment you made
opposing someone's zoning variance or liquor license, this statute likely
applies. If you're sued over a negative product review, a news story
unconnected to a permit dispute, or general commentary on a public issue,
it doesn't — Nebraska has no broader public-interest catch-all like most
other states' anti-SLAPP laws.

The special motion procedure

There's no distinct "special motion." A defendant instead files an ordinary
motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, or a motion for summary
judgment, and the statute requires the court to "expedite and grant
preference" in scheduling a hearing on it. The statute doesn't stay
discovery automatically or by its own terms while the motion is pending.

Burden of proof

Once the defendant shows the lawsuit is "an action involving public
petition and participation" under the statute's definition, the motion to
dismiss or for summary judgment must be granted UNLESS the plaintiff shows
the claim "has a substantial basis in law" or "is supported by a
substantial argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of
existing law." That's a legal-sufficiency test on the pleadings or
undisputed facts, not a special evidentiary showing. Separately, to recover
damages on the underlying claim at all — not just to survive the motion —
the plaintiff must also prove by clear and convincing evidence that any
material communication was made with knowledge of its falsity or reckless
disregard for the truth.

Attorney's fees

Winning the motion to dismiss or for summary judgment doesn't automatically
shift fees — those two sections don't mention fees at all. Instead, a
defendant who wins can bring a SEPARATE damages action (which can be filed
as a claim, cross-claim, or counterclaim in the same case) to recover costs
and attorney's fees, conditioned on showing the original suit lacked a
substantial basis in fact and law. Recovering further compensatory damages
on top of costs and fees requires an additional showing that the suit was
brought to harass, intimidate, punish, or maliciously inhibit the
defendant's speech, petition, or association rights.

Right to appeal

Nebraska's statute doesn't create any interlocutory or immediate appeal
right — none of the six sections mention an appeal. A ruling on the motion
follows Nebraska's ordinary rules for appealing after final judgment, unless
some other basis for an interlocutory appeal applies outside this statute.

Exemptions

There's no separate exemptions section. Instead, the statute's narrowness
comes from its scope definition itself: it only ever reaches a damages suit
by a permit or license applicant against someone who commented on or
opposed that application. Two savings clauses preserve other rights
untouched: one confirms the statute doesn't limit a party's other
common-law, statutory, or regulatory recovery rights, and the other
confirms it doesn't limit a defendant's other constitutional, statutory, or
common-law protections.

What trips people up

This statute only helps you if the underlying lawsuit was filed by a
permit or license applicant. It's not a general-purpose tool against any
lawsuit over public-interest speech — a business sued over a negative
online review, for instance, gets no help from this statute at all.

There's no special motion — you use ordinary dismissal or summary
judgment tools. The statute changes the standard applied to those
motions and the scheduling priority they get, not the type of motion filed.

Winning the motion doesn't automatically get you fees. You have to
bring a separate damages claim against the plaintiff and prove the original
suit had no substantial legal or factual basis — it isn't baked into the
dismissal order itself.

There's no automatic discovery stay and no guaranteed immediate appeal.
Unlike most newer anti-SLAPP statutes, Nebraska's doesn't pause discovery
while the motion is pending, and a losing defendant can't take an immediate
interlocutory appeal from a denial under this statute.

Common questions

Does this cover a lawsuit over comments I made opposing my neighbor's
rezoning application? Likely yes, if the lawsuit seeks damages from you
and was filed by the person who applied for the zoning change.

Does this cover a lawsuit over a bad review I left for a local
business? No — the statute only reaches suits filed by a permit or
license applicant over comments on their own application, not general
consumer or public-interest speech.

If my motion to dismiss is denied, can I appeal right away? No —
Nebraska's statute doesn't provide for an immediate appeal; you'd have to
wait for a final judgment unless some other, non-SLAPP-specific
interlocutory appeal rule applies.

Statutes and sources

• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,241 — "It is in the public interest and it is
  the purpose of sections 25-21,241 to 25-21,246 to strike a balance
  between the rights of persons to file lawsuits for injury and the
  constitutional rights of persons to petition, speech, and association...
  and to provide for costs, attorney's fees, and actual damages." Source:
  https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-21,241
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,242 — "Action involving public petition and
  participation shall mean an action, claim, cross-claim, or counterclaim
  for damages that is brought by a public applicant or permittee and is
  materially related to any efforts of the defendant to report on, comment
  on, rule on, challenge, or oppose the application or permission." Source:
  https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-21,242
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,243 — "A defendant in an action involving
  public petition and participation may maintain an action, claim,
  cross-claim, or counterclaim to recover damages, including costs and
  attorney's fees, from any person who commenced or continued such
  action..." Source:
  https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-21,243
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,244 — "In an action involving public petition
  and participation, the plaintiff may recover damages, including costs and
  attorney's fees, only if he or she... has established by clear and
  convincing evidence that any communication which gives rise to the action
  was made with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard of
  whether it was false..." Source:
  https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-21,244
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,245 — "A motion to dismiss based on a failure
  to state a cause of action shall be granted when the moving party
  demonstrates that the action... is an action involving public petition
  and participation unless the party responding to the motion demonstrates
  that the cause of action has a substantial basis in law... The court
  shall expedite and grant preference in the hearing of such motion."
  Source: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-21,245
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,246 — "A motion for summary judgment shall be
  granted when the moving party has demonstrated that the action... is an
  action involving public petition and participation unless the party
  responding to the motion demonstrates that the action... has a
  substantial basis in fact and law... The court shall grant preference in
  the hearing of such motion." Source:
  https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-21,246
  (accessed 2026-07-05).