ANTI-SLAPP

In 1994 California passed legislation to protect the victims of "SLAPP" cases ("Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation"), suits brought, typically by developers, against individuals and groups that appear before government agencies in opposition to development permits. Strumwasser & Woocher won early landmark cases applying the law to defend an archaeologist on a development project, and has successfully represented other private citizens and Public Interest Organizations who had been sued for their public speech. Dixon v. Superior Court, 30 Cal. App. 4th 73 (1994).

The firm secured and defended on appeal the dismissal of multi-million-dollar civil rights claims lodged against a collection of homeowners and an unincorporated homeowners' association who had been sued for providing testimony to the East Los Angeles Planning Commission regarding a proposed property development in their neighborhood. Roy v. Mt. Washington Homeowners' Alliance (2011 WL 893390).