Defendants Appealing The Entire SLAPP Denial As To All Claims Resulted In The Ruling.
Nirschl v. Schiller, Case No. B313105 (2d Dist., Div. 4 May 10, 2023) (published) involved SLAPP defendants in a case where only portions of their SLAPP motion as to non-defamation claims were denied and deemed to be frivolous in nature—with the lower court awarding fees to plaintiff for these activities. The appellate court agreed, as well as determined that the defendants should pay appellate fees relating to the non-defamation claims being sustained as frivolous on appeal (but not because the appeal was found to be frivolous). Defendants’ problem was that they overstepped their bounds, appealing rulings on both the defamation and non-defamation claims, which stayed the entire case inclusive of the defamation claims. For this overinclusive appeal, defendants were subject to exposure for SLAPP appellate fees as to the non-defamation claims.