Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C. Wins SLAPP Dismissal of Defamation Complaint Against a New Jersey-Based Law Firm

Camden County Superior Court Judge Michael Kassel has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit by Holtec International against Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins in violation of New Jersey’s new anti-SLAPP law.  The lawsuit alleged the posting of an item on the law firm’s website defamed Holtec, which is based in Florida but has a substantial presence in Camden.

Bruce S. Rosen, a partner at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden P.C., who filed the Order to Show Cause on behalf of the Javerbaum firm, said that the decision was “exactly what the law was meant to achieve, ending meritless lawsuits that affect public discussion of issues in an expeditious manner.”  It was the second such decision dismissing a SLAPP suit for Rosen and Pashman Stein since the law, known as the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA), became effective in October, 2023.  The law requires payment of legal fees for a successful anti-SLAPP application.

Rosen was recently quoted in a New Jersey Law Journal Article about the hearing dismissing the lawsuit on September 13, 2024, headlined, “Suit Against Law Firm Dismissed Under Anti-SLAPP Legislation.”

Rosen said after the hearing that the anti-SLAPP law is required to be interpreted broadly and for exceptions to be treated narrowly. But Holtec sought a broad interpretation of the exceptions, he said.

“I gave the example of lawyers standing on the courthouse steps, commenting on what had just happened in the courtroom. And somebody could take exception to that, sue them over that, and you wouldn’t get the protection of [the anti-SLAPP] law—basically no lawyer can ever say anything. And you know, I think the judge got it,” said Rosen.

To read the full article in the New Jersey Law Journal, click here.

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