Lambert

Appellants Winston and Elaine Lambert sued respondents Chris Carneghi and Robert Dailey for negligence over their alleged failure to adequately advance their position in a fire insurance appraisal proceeding pursuant to Insurance Code section 2071 (section 2071). The trial court sustained respondents’ demurrers, and appellants appealed from the subsequent judgments. We conclude that an appraisal proceeding pursuant to section 2071 is an arbitration, and that respondent Carneghi was immune from suit over his role as an appraiser. However, we find that the litigation privilege (Civ. Code, § 47, subd. (b)) does not protect respondent Dailey from suit over his role as an expert hired by appellants. We therefore affirm the trial court’s order sustaining respondent Carneghi’s demurrer, but reverse the trial court’s order sustaining Dailey’s demurrer.

I.

Factual and Procedural Background

“The appeal in this case is from a judgment of dismissal entered after the sustaining of a general demurrer. Accordingly, in setting forth the relevant facts for purposes of our review, we are guided by the familiar rules applicable in this setting. ‘We treat the demurrer as admitting all…