Second Department Provides Guidance on the Applicable Standard for a Matter of “Public Interest” Under New York’s Anti-SLAPP Statute
Date: 12/16/24
New York’s anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (“SLAPP”) statute provides an accelerated dismissal procedure for claims that discourage participation in matters of public interest. To trigger the statute, a defendant must demonstrate that the plaintiff’s action involves issues of “public petition and participation.” In 2020, the New York legislature expanded the definition of “action[s] involving public petition and participation” to include “any subject other than a purely private matter.” On November 20, 2024, in Tsamasiros v. Jones, the Second Department continued a significant trend of New York courts borrowing from case law in the defamation context to determine what constitutes matters of “public interest” that trigger the protections of the anti-SLAPP statute.
CGR Memo - Second Department Provides Guidance on the Applicable Standard for a Matter of “Public Interest” Under New York’s Anti-SLAPP Statute.pdf (pdf | 227.83 KB )