Voluntary Dismissal Is Enough Merit to Avoid Malpros SLAPP

Medley Capital Corp. v. Security Nat’l Guarantee Inc., No. A147726 (D1d2 Nov. 13, 2017)

A party that voluntarily dismissed some counterclaims in a prior real estate dispute got hit with a malicious prosecution case. The Dismisser responded with an anti-SLAPP motion. Given the subject matter, nobody argues the case doesn’t meet the first—“arising from protected activity”—element of the analysis. As far as potential for success goes, Dismisser claims that a voluntary dismissal doesn’t satisfy the favorable termination element of a malpros claim. But there’s no doubt that a voluntary dismissal can count as a favorable determination, even if that is not always the case. Given that disputes in evidence break in favor of the plaintiff on an anti-SLAPP motion, the voluntary termination was enough to make out a prima facie case, even if there were some circumstances where Dismisser could explain the dismissal in a way where it wouldn’t count as a favorable termination.

Affirmed.