Monday, October 14, 2024

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Ass'n v. Powell (Cal. Ct. App. - Oct. 11, 2024)

The trial court thought that the board members of the Coachella Valley Water District had brought an entirely frivolous anti-SLAPP motion, so awarded the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association over $180,000 in attorney's fees for the frivolous motion.

The Court of Appeal, by contrast, thought that the anti-SLAPP motion was not only frivolous, but meritorious, so reverses and grants the "frivolous" motion on appeal.

Interesting how different judges can reach such dramatically disparate rulings, eh?