Ohio Anti-SLAPP Laws Acts UPEPA

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R.C. § 2747.01 Definitions; application; legislative intent

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Goods or services” does not include the creation, dissemination, exhibition, or advertisement, or a similar promotion, of a dramatic, literary, musical, political, journalistic, or artistic work.

(2) “Governmental unit” means the government of the United States, the state, a political subdivision of the state, or any department, agency, board, commission, or other instrumentality of the government of the United States, the state, or a political subdivision.

(3) “Person” includes an individual, estate, trust, partnership, business or nonprofit entity, governmental unit, or other legal entity.

(B) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, this chapter applies to a cause of action asserted in a civil action against a person based on any of the following:

(1) The person’s communication in a legislative, executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental proceeding;

(2) The person’s communication on an issue under consideration or review in a legislative, executive, judicial, administrative, or other governmental proceeding;

(3) The person’s exercise of the right of freedom of speech and of the press, the right to assemble and petition, and the right of association, guaranteed by the United States Constitution or the Ohio Constitution, on a matter of public concern.

(1) A legal action against a governmental unit or an employee or agent of the governmental unit who was acting or purporting to act in an official capacity;

(2) An enforcement action that is brought in the name of a governmental unit to protect against an imminent threat to public health or safety;

(3) A legal action brought against a person primarily engaged in the business of selling or leasing goods or services, if the cause of action arises out of communication related to the person’s sale or lease of the goods or services;

(4) A survivorship claim or a legal action seeking recovery for bodily injury or wrongful death, or statements made regarding that claim or legal action.

(D) Nothing in this chapter is intended to create any new statutory cause of action.

(E) The general assembly, in enacting this chapter, intends to confer substantive immunity from suit, and not merely immunity from liability, for any cause of action described in division (B) of this section.

R.C. § 2747.02 Motion for expedited relief

Not later than sixty days after a party is served with a complaint, cross-claim, counterclaim, third-party claim, or other pleading that asserts a cause of action to which this chapter applies, the party may file a motion for expedited relief to dismiss the civil action or claim. The court may extend the sixty-day period to file the motion for expedited relief for good cause shown.

R.C. § 2747.03 Stays

(A)

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, if a motion for expedited relief is filed under section 2747.02 of the Revised Code, the court shall stay all other proceedings in the action between the moving party and responding party, including discovery and any other pending hearing or motion.

(2) Upon request by the moving party, the court may stay a hearing or motion involving another party in the action, or discovery by another party, if the hearing or ruling on the motion would adjudicate, or the discovery would relate to, an issue material to the motion for expedited relief.

(B) A stay under division (A) of this section remains in effect until thirty days after the entry of a ruling on the motion for expedited relief or upon the conclusion of an appeal of the ruling, whichever is later. During such an appeal, all proceedings between all parties in the action are stayed.

(C) During a stay under division (A) of this section, the court may allow limited discovery if the party seeking discovery shows that specific information is necessary to establish whether a party has satisfied a burden under section 2747.04 of the Revised Code and the information cannot be obtained unless discovery is allowed.

(D) A motion under section 2747.05 of the Revised Code for attorney’s fees, court costs, and other litigation expenses is not subject to a stay under this section.

(E) A stay under this section does not affect a party’s ability to voluntarily dismiss a cause of action or move to sever a cause of action for a separate trial.

(F) During a stay under this section, the court for good cause may hear and rule on either of the following:

(1) A motion unrelated to the motion for expedited relief;

(2) A motion seeking a temporary or preliminary injunction to protect against an imminent threat to public health or safety.

R.C. § 2747.04 Hearing; items to be considered in ruling on motion for expedited relief; circumstances where dismissal with prejudice required in ruling on motion for expedited relief; timing; effect of voluntary dismissal without prejudice

(A)

(1) The court shall conduct a hearing not later than sixty days after the filing of a motion for expedited relief, unless the court orders a later hearing to allow for limited discovery under section 2747.03 of the Revised Code or delays the hearing for other good cause.

(2) If the court orders a later hearing to allow for limited discovery, the court shall conduct the hearing not later than sixty days after the court order allowing discovery unless the hearing is delayed for other good cause.

(B) In ruling on the motion for expedited relief, the court shall consider the pleadings, the motion, any response to the motion, and any evidence that could be considered in ruling on a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

(C) In ruling on the motion for expedited relief, the court shall dismiss with prejudice a cause of action, or part of a cause of action, if all of the following apply:

(1) The moving party establishes that the cause of action is based on a communication or action described in division (B) of section 2747.01 of the Revised Code.

(2) The responding party fails to establish that this chapter does not apply to the cause of action due to an exception in division (C) of section 2747.01 of the Revised Code.

(3) Either the responding party fails to establish a prima-facie case for each essential element of the cause of action or the moving party establishes one of the following:

(a) The responding party failed to state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted.

(b) There is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the cause of action or part of the cause of action.

(D) The court shall rule on the motion for expedited relief not later than sixty days after the hearing.

(E)

(1) A voluntary dismissal without prejudice of a responding party’s cause of action, or part of a cause of action, that is the subject of a motion for expedited relief does not affect a moving party’s right to obtain a ruling on the motion for the purpose of obtaining attorney’s fees, court costs, and other litigation expenses under section 2747.05 of the Revised Code.

(2) A voluntary dismissal with prejudice of a responding party’s cause of action, or part of a cause of action, that is the subject of a motion for expedited relief establishes that the moving party prevailed on the motion for the purpose of awarding attorney’s fees, court costs, and other litigation expenses under section 2747.05 of the Revised Code.

R.C. § 2747.05 Attorney’s fees, court costs, and other litigation expenses; interlocutory appeals

(A) If the court grants a motion for expedited relief under section 2747.04 of the Revised Code, the court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, and other reasonable litigation expenses to the moving party. The court shall not fail to award, or reduce an award of, attorney’s fees, court costs, and other reasonable litigation expenses under this division on the grounds that the representation of the moving party was undertaken on a pro bono or contingent basis.

(B) If the court denies a motion for expedited relief under section 2747.04 of the Revised Code, and finds that the motion was frivolous conduct as defined in section 2323.51 of the Revised Code, the court, after the disposition of any appeal affirming the court’s ruling on the motion, shall award to the responding party reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, and other reasonable litigation expenses incurred in responding to the motion.

(C) If the court denies a motion for expedited relief under section 2747.04 of the Revised Code, the denial is a final order under section 2505.02 of the Revised Code and the moving party has an interlocutory right of appeal under that section. The appeal must be filed within thirty days after entry of the order.

R.C. § 2747.06 Construction and application

(A) Sections 2747.01 to 2747.06 of the Revised Code apply to a civil action filed or any claim asserted in a civil action on or after the effective date of this section.

(B) A court shall broadly construe and apply sections 2747.01 to 2747.06 of the Revised Code to protect the exercise of the right of freedom of speech and of the press, the right to assemble and petition, and the right of association, guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Ohio Constitution.

(C) In construing and applying sections 2747.01 to 2747.06 of the Revised Code, a court shall consider the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact a substantially similar law.

R.C. § 2505.02 Final order

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Substantial right” means a right that the United States Constitution, the Ohio Constitution, a statute, the common law, or a rule of procedure entitles a person to enforce or protect.

(2) “Special proceeding” means an action or proceeding that is specially created by statute and that prior to 1853 was not denoted as an action at law or a suit in equity.

(3) “Provisional remedy” means a proceeding ancillary to an action, including, but not limited to, a proceeding for a preliminary injunction, attachment, discovery of privileged matter, suppression of evidence, a prima-facie showing pursuant to section 2307.85 or 2307.86 of the Revised Code, a prima-facie showing pursuant to section 2307.92 of the Revised Code, or a finding made pursuant to division (A)(3) of section 2307.93 of the Revised Code.

(B) An order is a final order that may be reviewed, affirmed, modified, or reversed, with or without retrial, when it is one of the following:

(1) An order that affects a substantial right in an action that in effect determines the action and prevents a judgment;

(2) An order that affects a substantial right made in a special proceeding or upon a summary application in an action after judgment;

(3) An order that vacates or sets aside a judgment or grants a new trial;

(4) An order that grants or denies a provisional remedy and to which both of the following apply:

(a) The order in effect determines the action with respect to the provisional remedy and prevents a judgment in the action in favor of the appealing party with respect to the provisional remedy.

(b) The appealing party would not be afforded a meaningful or effective remedy by an appeal following final judgment as to all proceedings, issues, claims, and parties in the action.

(5) An order that determines that an action may or may not be maintained as a class action;

(6) An order determining the constitutionality of any changes to the Revised Code made by Am. Sub. S.B. 281 of the 124th general assembly, including the amendment of sections 1751.67, 2117.06, 2305.11, 2305.15, 2305.234, 2317.02, 2317.54, 2323.56, 2711.21, 2711.22, 2711.23, 2711.24, 2743.02, 2743.43, 2919.16, 3923.63, 3923.64, 4705.15, and 5111.018 (renumbered as 5164.07 by H.B. 59 of the 130th general assembly1), and the enactment of sections 2305.113, 2323.41, 2323.43, and 2323.55 of the Revised Code or any changes made by Sub. S.B. 80 of the 125th general assembly, including the amendment of sections 2125.02, 2305.10, 2305.131, 2315.18, 2315.19, and 2315.21 of the Revised Code;

(7) An order in an appropriation proceeding that may be appealed pursuant to division (B)(3) of section 163.09 of the Revised Code;

(8) An order restraining or restricting enforcement, whether on a temporary, preliminary, or permanent basis, in whole or in part, facially or as applied, of any state statute or regulation, including, but not limited to, orders in the form of injunctions, declaratory judgments, or writs;

(9) An order that denies a motion for expedited relief pursuant to section 2747.04 of the Revised Code.

(C) When a court issues an order that vacates or sets aside a judgment or grants a new trial, the court, upon the request of either party, shall state in the order the grounds upon which the new trial is granted or the judgment vacated or set aside.

(D) This section applies to and governs any action, including an appeal, that is pending in any court on July 22, 1998, and all claims filed or actions commenced on or after July 22, 1998, notwithstanding any provision of any prior statute or rule of law of this state.