Paul

Summary

This case involves the question whether a lawyer’s investigative acts in the course of prosecuting his clients’ arbitration claims against a securities broker were acts in furtherance of his free speech rights within the meaning of California’s anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) statute.

We conclude the lawyer’s acts alleged in the broker’s subsequent lawsuit did not fall within the purview of the anti-SLAPP statute, because the acts alleged did not occur in connection with an issue under consideration or review in the arbitration. Accordingly, the lawyer’s special motion to strike the broker’s complaint against him as a meritless lawsuit brought primarily to chill the valid exercise of his constitutional rights should have been denied.

Factual and Procedural Background

Geoffrey Scott Paul, a securities broker, brought this lawsuit against 11 former brokerage clients and their lawyer, Michael E. Friedman. The lawsuit arose from acts that occurred prior to and during an arbitration in which Paul’s former clients sought $31 million in compensatory damages from Paul and his employer, CIBC Oppenheimer. In the arbitration, the claimants…