Urban Logic's Beaumont Lawsuit Defeated by Reid & Hellyer Attorneys; Reported by Daily Journal

February 15, 2011

As reported by the Daily Journal (subscription required), A Riverside County Superior Court commissioner granted an Anti-SLAPP motion in favor of a citizens' group represented by Reid & Hellyer attorneys Andy Roth and Jenna Acuff, ordering dismissal of a lawsuit filed against them by Urban Logic Consultants (ULC), a private company and its three owners, who had been providing Planning, Public Works and Economic Development services to the City of Beaumont since 1993.

Members of the Board of Directors of the non-profit group Beaumont Citizens for Responsible Growth (BCRG) were served on Thanksgiving Day with a lawsuit which sought to enjoin them from publishing statements critical of Beaumont’s contract with Urban Logic on BCRG’s website, www.BeaumontGate.org, on which the group discloses contracting practices of the City.  The lawsuit filed by ULC against BCRG claimed that some of the statements were defamatory and damaged the company’s reputation.

On Tuesday the Court agreed with Reid & Hellyer’s argument that the lawsuit violated California law prohibiting strategic lawsuits against public participation (“Anti-SLAPP”), dismissing the lawsuit on the grounds that BCRG’s statements were protected by the Free Speech clause of the First Amendment and that Urban Logic had failed to present sufficient evidence of “actual malice,” i.e., knowledge the statements (based mainly on public records BCRG had obtained from the City) were false.

As the Daily Journal reported on February 18, 2011:

"[Commissioner Durand-Barkley] ruled we'd met our burden," said Andrew I. Roth, a partner with Reid & Hellyer LLP in Riverside who represents Beaumont Citizens. "We're glad she recognized that this was a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. It was pretty clear on the record she didn't have any problem finding that."

As a result of the ruling, Reid & Hellyer will seek orders for UL and its owners to pay attorney fees and court costs incurred by BCRG, in an amount to be determined at a later hearing.