Bell v. Brumm CA1/1

BACKGROUND

In his original complaint, filed in October 2018, plaintiff asserted seven causes of action. Defendant interposed a demurrer on the ground the case is governed by Delaware law and under that law, plaintiff fails to state any claim for relief. Before the demurrer was heard, plaintiff, in April 2019, filed a first amended complaint, asserting the same causes of action but adding allegations assertedly curing any deficiencies in the original complaint.

1 Defendants again interposed a demurrer, which the trial court heard in August and sustained with leave to amend. Several weeks later, in early September, plaintiff filed a second amended complaint, which is the operative pleading for purposes of this appeal. Plaintiff asserted four causes of action, three of which had been pled in his prior complaints. Defendants responded with both a demurrer and a special motion to strike (anti-SLAPP motion). The special motion to strike targeted the following: allegations 20 through 143 of the first cause of action; the entirety of the newly pled third cause of action; and the request for attorney fees and expenses in the prayer for relief. Three months later, in February 2020, the…