Old Republic Construction Program Group v. Boccardo Law Firm, Inc.

Defendants The Boccardo Law Firm, Inc. (Boccardo), and one of its partners, John C. Stein, bring this appeal from an order denying their motion under the anti-SLAPP law (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16 (§ 425.16)), to strike three causes of action asserted against them by plaintiff Old Republic Construction Program Group (Old Republic). The question presented is whether the statute applies to claims alleging that defendants wrongfully withdrew settlement funds derived from a now defunct lawsuit, which they had deposited in their trust account pursuant to a stipulation requiring Old Republic’s consent to any withdrawal. In answering this question we apply two principles that have perhaps not been as clearly articulated in the case law as they should be: (1) in determining whether a cause of action arises from conduct protected by the anti-SLAPP law, the focus is on the wrongful, injurious acts or omissions identified in the complaint, and whether those acts or omissions come within the statute’s description of protected conduct and (2) unless the wrongful conduct is communicative in character, it is protected by the statute only if it was undertaken in connection with an issue…