Canyon View Estates v. Federal Deposit Insurance

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff Canyon View Estates (“Canyon View”) sued Defendants Homeside Lending (“Homeside”) and Homeside’s Attorneys (“the Attorneys”) for malicious prosecution. Homeside and the Attorneys filed anti-SLAPP motions to strike the pleadings pursuant to Cal. Civ.Proc. Code § 425.16 (b)(2). The trial court denied Homeside’s anti-SLAPP motion and granted the Attorneys’ anti-SLAPP motion.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as the receiver of Homeside, appeals the denial of Homeside’s anti-SLAPP motion. Canyon View appeals the grant of the Attorneys’ anti-SLAPP motion. This court has jurisdiction over a denial of an anti-SLAPP motion as an appealable interlocutory order, and a grant of an anti-SLAPP motion, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . See Batzel v. Smith, 333 F.3d 1018, 1024 (9th Cir. 2003). We affirm the grant of the Attorneys’ anti-SLAPP motion, reverse the denial of Homeside’s anti-SLAPP motion, and remand to the district court.

1. Standard of Review — We apply the same rules that California state courts apply in ruling on an anti-SLAPP motion. See Vess v. Ciba-Geigy Corp. USA, 317 F.3d 1097, 1109 (9th Cir.2003). We review an anti-SLAPP ruling de novo. Id. at 1102. We…