Applying Pennsylvania’s Anti-SLAPP Law in Federal Diversity Actions, by Seth A. Goldberg - The Legal Intelligencer
Seth A. Goldberg, partner in the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice, recently authored an article published in The Legal Intelligencer titled, “Applying Pennsylvania’s Anti-SLAPP Law in Federal Diversity Actions.” The article examines Pennsylvania federal court decisions regarding the application of Pennsylvania’s relatively new anti-SLAPP law, the Uniform Protected Public Expression Act (PA UPEPA), in federal court, and discusses how a recent District New Jersey supports applying PA UPEPA’s fee-shifting provisions in federal diversity defamation actions.
“[Anti-SLAPP laws] generally provide a fast-track process for challenging the merits of an apparently frivolous defamation claim based on the allegations in a complaint or limited discovery, and award attorney fees and expenses where the defamation claim fails as a matter of law. Since it was enacted, PA UPEPA has been asserted by the defendants in two diversity actions in the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania, but both courts side-stepped the law on procedural grounds. However, as described below, those decisions pave the way for application of UPEPA and its fee-shifting provision, the real teeth of the law, in federal diversity actions,” writes Goldberg.
To read the full article in the Legal Intelligencer, click here.
