Firm Obtains Dismissal for Clients on Anti-SLAPP Motions

The Norfolk Superior Court recently issued an Order dismissing all claims that had been asserted against two Firm clients and awarding those clients their attorneys’ fees and costs under the Massachusetts anti-SLAPP (“Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation”) statute, M.G.L. ch. 231, § 59H. 

Cloherty & Steinberg LLP had initiated the underlying civil lawsuit on behalf of a Boston-area medical practice alleging that it had been victimized by a years-long embezzlement scheme involving the Defendants.  When one Defendant responded to the lawsuit by filing claims for defamation and various other torts against the medical practice and the practice’s owner, our clients sought dismissal on the grounds that the Defendant’s claims were barred by the Massachusetts anti-SLAPP statute, which forbids civil claims based upon a party’s exercise of its constitutional right to petition.  Applying the anti-SLAPP analysis recently adopted by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Bristol Asphalt Co. Inc. v. Rochester Bituminous Products, Inc., 493 Mass. 539 (February 29, 2024), the Superior Court concluded that the Defendant’s claims fell squarely within the scope of activities that the anti-SLAPP statute was designed to protect. 

The Court dismissed all of the Defendant’s claims against the practice and its owner and awarded our clients their attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in litigating against those claims.  Firm attorneys Daniel J. Cloherty and Rebecca M. O’Brien represented our clients in the case.