Facts

On Oct. 2, 2009, plaintiff Waukeen McCoy brought this lawsuit against defendant Kenneth Walczak, an associate at Rosen, Bien & Galvan, LLP, alleging two claims of defamation arising out of the context of two related underlying lawsuits pending in the USDC, Northern District of California, Alvarado v. FedEx and White v. FedEx, Nos. 04-0098 SI & 04-0099 SI (the "Alvarado litigation"), in which plaintiff and defendant are both counsel of record.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff claimed that defendant wrote that plaintiff was a "known perjurer" in the Alvarado litigation, which was defamatory, and further claimed that it had been repeated in an out-of-court setting.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
On Nov. 20, 2009, defendant brought a special motion to strike the complaint pursuant to Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16, on the grounds that plaintiff's lawsuit constituted a Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation ("SLAPP") brought in an effort to chill defendant Walczak's First Amendment rights and to interfere with his zealous advocacy on behalf of his client in the Alvarado litigation.

Result

Hon. Peter J. Busch granted defendant's anti-SLAPP motion in its entirety on Feb. 2, 2010, thereby dismissing plaintiff's complaint. Walczak moved for attorney fees, pursuant to Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16, which the court awarded on Aug. 24, 2010, in the amount of $92,898.

Other Information

The Court of Appeal dismissed plaintiff's appeal pursuant to Cal. R. Court 8.220. Plaintiff has appealed the attorney fee award, alleging that the motion was brought beyond the 60 day time limit. FILING DATE: Oct. 2, 2009.