Metabolic Research, Inc. v. Scott Ferrell

In this decision, we determine whether an order denying a pretrial special motion to dismiss under Nevada’s anti-SLAPP statute, Nev.Rev.Stat. §§ 41.635-670, is immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine first recognized in Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Carp., 337 U.S. 541, 546-47, 69 S.Ct. 1221 , 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949). We previously considered related issues under Oregon law in Englert v. MacDonell, 551 F.3d 1099, 1103-07 (9th Cir.2009), and California law in Batzel v. Smith, 333 F.3d 1018, 1025-26 (9th Cir. 2003). We find that Nevada’s statute is similar to Oregon’s, and dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 20, 2009, Scott J. Ferrell, an attorney practicing law in Orange County California, sent “demand letters” to Metabolic Research, Inc. (“Metabolic”), at its address in Las Vegas, Nevada, and to General Nutrition Centers, Inc. (“GNC”), at its address in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The demand letters purported to notify the recipients that they had violated California Civil Code §§ 1750-1756, the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), by falsely advertising the properties and potential…