This is a nice, short, and (in my view) correct decision by the California Supreme Court, which holds that you can't recover fees on an anti-SLAPP motion if the plaintiff dismisses the lawsuit prior to the filing of your anti-SLAPP motion.
Justice Corrigan writes the opinion for a unanimous court. What's most interesting is the brevity of the opinion, which tops out at nine (double-spaced) pages. Pretty darn short and to the point. Which is both nice and refreshing.
Moreover, to be honest, I thought that most of the opinion was fluff anyway. As I was reading the opinion, I kept saying to myself: "Come on. Get to it. You're just saying total generalities. Actually address the arguments on both sides, not merely puke out platitudes." I thought as I was reading this part that this was going to be a correct, but fairly unreasoned, opinion. Only in the final three or four paragraphs does Justice Corrigan actually engage is substantive analysis. But when she (finally!) does so, it's persuasive.
So it's a short opinion that could have been even shorter. Still, happy to read it.
