A defamation action that put an attorney through financial turmoil, having to defend the case all the way to the California Supreme Court, came to an end on May 17, 2010, with a victory for Pierce Gore in Simpson Strong-Tie Co v Gore. Simpson Strong-Tie Co. sued Gore, an attorney seeking clients for a class action lawsuit, over an advertisement Gore published in a newspaper to locate plaintiffs for a class action lawsuit.
The advertisement, which began Christmas Day 2005, ran over a 28-day period in the Mercury News and once in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, read as follows:
ATTENTION:
WOOD DECK OWNERS
If your deck was built after January 1, 2004 with galvanized screws manufactured by Phillips Fastener Products, Simpson Strong-Tie or Grip-Rite, you may have certain legal rights and be entitled to monetary compensation, and repair or replacement of your deck. Please call if you would like an attorney to investigate whether you have a potential claim:
Pierce Gore
GORE LAW FIRM
900 East Hamilton Ave.
Suite 100 Campbell, CA 95008
408-879-7444
Gore filed a Special Motion to Strike under California's anti-SLAPP statute, Code of Civil Procedure Section 425.16. Simpson argued that an exemption from the anti-SLAPP statute for commercial speech, Code of Civil Procedure Section 425.17(c), applied to Simpson's claims.
The Supreme Court held the exemption did not apply and Gore was entitled to invoke the anti-SLAPP statute to protect his free speech in publishing the advertisement.
Section 425.17(c) exempts from the anti-SLAPP statute's protection statements or conduct by a seller of goods or services made to a prospective or actual buyer of those goods or services, if the "statement or conduct consists of representations of fact about that person's or a business competitor's business operations, goods, or services, that is made for the purpose of obtaining approval for, promoting, or securing sales or leases of, or commercial transactions in, the person's goods or services, or the statement or conduct was made in the course of delivering the person's goods or services." Section 425.17(c)'s "content" requirement applies to statements or conduct that occur in soliciting business and while a product or service is delivered.
If you have any questions with regard to bankruptcy or foreclosures, please contact our office at 1-800-303-2964. Rinne Legal is located at 1990 North California Blvd., Walnut Creek, California 94596, with additional offices in Fairfield, Oakland, and Sacramento. Rinne Legal offers free initial consultations.
