SLAPP: Appellate Court’s Reversal Of SLAPP Denials Meant That Fee Denial Had To Be Reversed And Remanded For A Fee Determination

Even If Construed As A “Partial” SLAPPback, No Authority Cited To Preclude Fee Recovery.

            In J.B.B. Investment Partners, Ltd. v. Fair, Case No. A160098 (1^st Dist., Div. 2 June 9, 2022) (unpublished), defendant attorneys filed an anti-SLAPP motion which was granted on an abuse of process count and denied on other counts brought by plaintiff.  The lower court also denied a fee request.  The 1/2 DCA reversed, finding the SLAPP motion should have been granted on the other counts so that the fee denial had to be reversed and remanded for a determination of reasonable fees.  It did not believe this was a “SLAPPback” situation, but similarly observed that no authority was cited for the proposition that fees were unwarranted for a “partial” SLAPPback.