Anapol

Fire Insurance Exchange and Mid Century Insurance Company (collectively Farmers) uncovered what they believed to be a massive insurance fraud ring engaged in the submission of false and/or inflated claims for smoke and ash damage arising from several Southern California wildfires. It brought the instant qui tam action against several members of the alleged ring, including two attorneys, Neil R. Anapol and Robert B. Amidon, who submitted the purportedly false insurance claims on the part of Farmers’s insureds. As against the attorneys, Farmers alleged both the submission of false claims and the use of cappers to obtain insureds willing to pursue such claims.

The attorneys brought motions to strike the complaint under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (anti-SLAPP motions), arguing that their pursuit of insurance claims and acts in obtaining clients constituted prelitigation conduct protected by their First Amendment right to petition. The trial court denied the motions on the basis that the attorneys had failed to establish protected conduct, specifically relying on authority holding that the submission of insurance claims does not constitute protected conduct under…