Henigson

The case at bench reaches us on an appeal by plaintiffs in an action for malicious prosecution brought against a corporation, its directors, and its counsel from a summary judgment entered in favor of counsel. Concluding that the trial court correctly determined that the moving defendants established that they were not liable and that the plaintiffs failed to show the existence of a triable issue of fact, we affirm the judgment.

The summary judgment which is the subject of this appeal was entered March 20, 1973, prior to the January 1, 1974, effective date of California’s 1973 Summary Judgment Act. (Stats. 1973, ch. 366, p. 807.) We therefore review the judgment in the context of the pre-1974 summary judgment law. (D'Amico v. Board of Medical Examiners, 11 Cal.3d 1, 20, fn. 15 [ 112 Cal.Rptr. 786 , 520 P.2d 10 ].) Thus we consider respondents’ declarations strictly to determine if they establish their right to judgment by conclusively negating a necessary element of appellants’-plaintiffs’ cause of action, and appellants’ declarations liberally to determine if appellants have established the existence of triable issues of fact. (Stationers Corp. v. Dun & Bradstreet,…