SLAPP: Lower Court Had Jurisdiction After Plaintiffs’ Dismissal Of Their Complaint, With A SLAPP Motion Pending, To Award Fees To the Defense

However, Lower Court Had To Determine If SLAPP Motion Had Merits, Which It Did.

            In Mendez v. Flores, Case No. C095501 (3d Dist. Dec. 8, 2023) (unpublished), plaintiffs dismissed their complaint after the defense moved to SLAPP it.  The lower court awarded the defense $19,608 in SLAPP fees after determining it had jurisdiction to rule on the motion and deciding the dismissed SLAPP motion had merit.  The Third District affirmed.  Addressing an appellate court split in thinking on whether fees can be awarded to the defense without determining if the SLAPP fees had merit, the Third District aligned with the majority of decisions on the issue, holding that fees could only be awarded if there is a merits “favorable” threshold determination.  (Citing numerous decisions, especially Liu v. Moore, 69 Cal.App.4^th 745, 752 (1999).)  Because appellants presented an inadequate record to challenge the amount of the award, that was affirmed, with the appellate court also remanding for the lower court to award further SLAPP fees to the defense for prevailing on appeal.