Anti-SLAPP Statute–No Fees If Plaintiff Voluntarily Dismisses
Yesterday the Appeals Court issued a decision that was probably correct, but disappointing. The gist of it is that we have a law in Mass that if you get sued for “public participation,” you can file a motion to dismiss and make the big bully pay your legal fees. The idea is that people with deep pockets (like Wal*Mart) shouldn’t be able to use the legal system to intimidate their political opponents (like local people who oppose building a new Wal*Mart). These suits are called SLAPP suits, for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. The idea of the SLAPP suit isn’t necessarily to win–it’s to distract your detractors, divert their resources from activism to litigation, and make them shut up.
After the jump, read how one SLAPP plaintiff carved out a loophole
Posted by AndyCowan on February 24th, 2010 :: Filed under In the News, Law for the Layman
Tags :: old fashioned beatdown, SLAPP, Tactics and Trial Strategies, the wealthy and their wealthy lawyers, things that are wrong