Oasis West Realty, LLC, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Kenneth A. Goldman, Defendants and Appellants

Summary

The California Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal and held that Oasis demonstrated sufficient merit in its claims against its former attorney to defeat the second prong of the anti-SLAPP statute. An attorney's continuing duties of loyalty and confidentiality prohibit using confidential information from a prior representation to oppose the same project the attorney was retained to advance, even when the attorney acts personally and does not represent a new client. The court exercised its authority over the practice of law to proceed directly to the probability-of-prevailing inquiry.