Only Appealable For Judgment Of Dismissal, Disagreeing With Third District Precedent.
Although we do not “weigh in” on many decisions, the issue in this case may be destined for California Supreme Court review—given that the jurisprudence is this area is conflicting or (at least) confusing.
The issue, boiled down, deals with appealability—when a SLAPP motion is granted, and subsequent fee order granted in favor of the defense, does the losing plaintiff have to appeal from the SLAPP grant order or the subsequent fee order in order to preserve a challenge to the fee award?
The Sixth District, in Laue v. Ortiz, Case No. H041044 (6th Dist. Mar. 11, 2015) (unpublished), dismissed an appeal from an adverse SLAPP fee order because it determined that the aggrieved plaintiff should have appealed from the earlier SLAPP dismissal order. Put another way, the fee order was not a final order collateral to the continuing litigation of the main issues. In so doing, the Sixth District expressly disagreed with a contrary conclusion—that a SLAPP fee order (whether a grant or denial) is appealable as an “order after judgment”—reached by the Third District in Ellis Law Group, LLP v. Nevada City Sugar Loaf Properties, LLC, 230 Cal.App.4th 244, 250-251 (2014).