New York: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

New York's anti-SLAPP protection lives in two places at once: Civil Rights
Law §§ 70-a and 76-a define what counts as "public petition and
participation" and set the damages and fee-shifting rules, while CPLR
3211(g) and 3212(h) build a heightened standard into New York's ordinary
motion-to-dismiss and summary-judgment rules. Originally enacted in 1992 to
cover only suits over government permits and approvals, the law was
significantly broadened in 2020 to reach speech on any matter of public
interest.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

The 1992 original was narrow: it only protected people sued over their
efforts to obtain a permit, zoning change, or other government approval
from a private developer retaliating against opposition. A 2020 amendment
(Chapter 250 of the Laws of 2020) rewrote the definition of "action
involving public petition and participation" to cover any communication in
a public forum on an issue of public interest, bringing New York's law much
closer in scope to California's or Texas's.

What speech or conduct is protected

An "action involving public petition and participation" is a claim based on
either a communication in a place open to the public or a public forum in
connection with an issue of public interest, or other lawful conduct
furthering the constitutional right of free speech (on such an issue) or
the constitutional right of petition. The statute defines "public interest"
expansively: "any subject other than a purely private matter."

The motion and its procedure

New York doesn't create a freestanding "special motion" the way California
or Texas does. Instead, once a defendant shows the suit qualifies as an
action involving public petition and participation, an ordinary CPLR
3211(a)(7) motion to dismiss (for failure to state a cause of action) or a
CPLR 3212 summary judgment motion gets a heightened standard and a
scheduling preference. Filing either motion automatically stays all
discovery, pending hearings, and motions in the case until the court rules,
though a court can allow limited, issue-specific discovery on a showing
that the opposing party genuinely cannot present facts to oppose the motion
without it.

Burden of proof

Once the defendant shows the case is a public-petition-and-participation
action, the motion "shall be granted" unless the plaintiff demonstrates the
claim "has a substantial basis in law and fact" or "is supported by a
substantial argument for an extension, modification or reversal of
existing law." This is a legal-sufficiency test, closer to asking whether
the claim is legally colorable at all, rather than an evidentiary
"probability of prevailing" test that asks a court to weigh how likely the
plaintiff is to actually win.

Attorney's fees

A defendant who wins the 3211(g) or 3212(h) motion has effectively already
proven the suit lacked a substantial basis — and once that showing is made,
costs and attorney's fees "shall be recovered." Going further, the
statute lets a successful defendant bring a separate claim for
compensatory damages, but only on clear and convincing evidence that the
suit was brought to harass, intimidate, punish, or maliciously inhibit
the exercise of protected rights; punitive damages require that same
showing plus proof the suit was pursued for the sole purpose of doing so.

Right to appeal

Neither §§ 70-a/76-a nor CPLR 3211(g)/3212(h) create a SLAPP-specific
interlocutory appeal right. In practice, an order deciding one of these
motions is typically appealable as of right to the Appellate Division under
New York's general civil appeal rule, CPLR 5701(a)(2), because it "involves
some part of the merits" or "affects a substantial right." But that's
ordinary New York appellate procedure, not a feature built into the
anti-SLAPP law itself — there's no automatic stay of the underlying case
while that appeal is pending, and no accelerated appellate calendar the way
some other states provide.

Exemptions

Neither the Civil Rights Law sections nor the CPLR provisions list any
named categories of exempted claims. The only limiting principle is the
"action involving public petition and participation" definition itself: a
claim that doesn't fit that definition simply isn't covered, rather than
being carved out by a separate exemptions section.

What trips people up

There's no single motion to point to — it's an enhancement to existing
motions. Someone looking for a distinct "anti-SLAPP motion" form the way
California or Texas has one won't find it in New York; the protection is
layered onto an ordinary CPLR 3211 or 3212 motion.

The "substantial basis" standard is not the same as other states'
"probability of prevailing" tests, and treating them as interchangeable
risks misjudging how a New York court will actually approach the motion.

The 2020 broadening is easy to miss in older material. Anything
describing New York's anti-SLAPP law as limited to disputes over government
permits and approvals is describing the pre-2020 law, which the 2020
amendment substantially superseded.

Common questions

Does filing the motion stop the case from moving forward? Discovery,
pending hearings, and other motions are automatically stayed once the
motion is filed, and the stay lasts until the court rules.

Can I get money damages, not just dismissal and fees? Only with clear
and convincing evidence that the suit was brought to harass, intimidate,
punish, or maliciously inhibit your exercise of protected rights — a higher
bar than what's needed to win the dismissal motion and recover fees in the
first place.

If I lose the motion, can I appeal right away? There's no special
fast-track appeal built into the statute, but an order on the motion is
generally appealable as of right under New York's ordinary civil appeal
rules since it affects a substantial right.

Statutes and sources

• N.Y. Civil Rights Law § 76-a — "1. For purposes of this section: (a)
  An 'action involving public petition and participation' is a claim based
  upon: (1) any communication in a place open to the public or a public
  forum in connection with an issue of public interest; or (2) any other
  lawful conduct in furtherance of the exercise of the constitutional right
  of free speech in connection with an issue of public interest, or in
  furtherance of the exercise of the constitutional right of petition...
  (d) 'Public interest' shall be construed broadly, and shall mean any
  subject other than a purely private matter. 2. In an action involving
  public petition and participation, damages may only be recovered if the
  plaintiff, in addition to all other necessary elements, shall have
  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://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVR/76-A (accessed 2026-07-05).
• N.Y. Civil Rights Law § 70-a — "1. 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; provided
  that: (a) costs and attorney's fees shall be recovered upon a
  demonstration, including an adjudication pursuant to subdivision (g) of
  rule thirty-two hundred eleven or subdivision (h) of rule thirty-two
  hundred twelve of the civil practice law and rules, that the action
  involving public petition and participation was commenced or continued
  without a substantial basis in fact and law and could not be supported
  by a substantial argument for the extension, modification or reversal of
  existing law..." Source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVR/70-A
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• N.Y. C.P.L.R. 3211(g) — "1. A motion to dismiss based on paragraph
  seven of subdivision (a) of this section, in which the moving party has
  demonstrated that the action, claim, cross claim or counterclaim subject
  to the motion is an action involving public petition and participation
  as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section seventy-six-a
  of the civil rights law, shall be granted unless the party responding to
  the motion demonstrates that the cause of action has a substantial basis
  in law or is supported by a substantial argument for an extension,
  modification or reversal of existing law. The court shall grant
  preference in the hearing of such motion... 3. All discovery, pending
  hearings, and motions in the action shall be stayed upon the filing of a
  motion made pursuant to this section. The stay shall remain in effect
  until notice of entry of the order ruling on the motion." Source:
  https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/3211 (accessed 2026-07-05).
• N.Y. C.P.L.R. 3212(h) — "A motion for summary judgment, in which the
  moving party has demonstrated that the action, claim, cross claim or
  counterclaim subject to the motion is an action involving public petition
  and participation, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of
  section seventy-six-a of the civil rights law, shall be granted unless
  the party responding to the motion demonstrates that the action, claim,
  cross claim or counterclaim has a substantial basis in fact and law or is
  supported by a substantial argument for an extension, modification or
  reversal of existing law. The court shall grant preference in the hearing
  of such motion." Source: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/3212
  (accessed 2026-07-05).