LEGAL MEMOS

Callister v. James B. Church & Associates PC (2025) 108 Cal.App.5th 185. This is a SLAPP case. The Plaintiff sued a law firm for professional negligence, ordinary negligence and breach of contract alleging that the firm failed to file a protective claim for a refund with the internal revenue service or to advise the personal representative of a descendant’s estate that the estate should file such claim. The law firm filed a SLAPP motion. The trial court denied the motion which the Court of Appeal affirmed. In doing so the Court of Appeal commented that the conduct which gave rise to all three causes of action was an allegation that the firm had failed to act or speak, not that it had made affirmative statements or otherwise had engaged in any specific communicative acts. The failure to act or speak is not the same thing as a written or oral statement made before or in connection with an issue under consideration or review by an official body. Therefore the alleged conduct was not protected under CCP § 425.16(e)(1) or (2).

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