Melbostad Offers Crucial Tips on Correctly Appealing anti-SLAPP Order Granting Fees to a Prevailing Defendant.
On August 4, 2008, the First District, Division Four—on its own motion—has decided to publish Melbostad v. Fisher, Case No. A119514 (1st Dist., Div. 4 July 23, 2008). Actually, we believe that this was a decision well justified for publication, clarifying the type of fee grant orders that must be appealed from in order to preserve appellate jurisdiction. It specifically held that a later "judgment" combining a previous order granting an anti-SLAPP motion and order granting the separate anti-SLAPP fee motion "served no purpose," where prior written orders—albeit two different ones—should have been the subject of separate appeals. Melbostad is must reading for practitioners representing litigants aggrieved by grants of anti-SLAPP merits and fees motions. See our earlier July 25, 2008 post on Melbostad.