Defamation: Anti-SLAPP Motions, Mixed Causes of Action and the Litigation Privilege in Los Angeles and San Diego

Last month a Los Angeles Court of Appeals decided a libel case involving mixed causes of action, i.e., claims including legally protected and unprotected statements or activity, in framework of the litigation privilege.1 The defendant-cross-complainant-respondent (Kettler) is a financial planner and advisor who assisted plaintiffs elderly parents for 20 years. Shortly after their deaths, the plaintiff daughter sued for misappropriation …