Rohde

INTRODUCTION

There were disputes, including threats of litigation, between a brother and sister concerning the distribution of their deceased father’s assets. During the period of the disputes, the attorney for the brother became dissatisfied when the proposed listing agent for one of the father’s real property assets, *32 allegedly at the sister’s direction, failed to send the attorney a listing agreement for the property and a proposal from a potential buyer. The attorney left voice mail messages that accused the listing agent of conspiring with the sister to defraud the brother and that threatened to take “appropriate action.” The sister sued the brother’s attorney for defamation based on those messages. The attorney filed a motion to strike the sister’s complaint under the anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) statute—Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (section 425.16). The trial court denied the motion, and the attorney appeals. In reversing, we hold that the messages, under these circumstances, are covered by the anti-SLAPP statute and the litigation privilege in Civil Code section 47, subdivision (b) (section 47), and that the lawyer’s…