Since California enacted the first anti-SLAPP statute in 1992, many other states have followed suit. The result is an inconsistent patchwork of laws, some broad in scope, others narrow. In 2020, the Uniform Law Commission approved a uniform law entitled the Unform Public Expression Protection Act (‘UPEPA”). It has already been adopted in Washington; Kentucky, Hawaii, Iowa and Indiana are expected to follow soon. Also in 2020, New York has significantly enlarged its statute. Lane P. Shetterly chaired the ULC committee which drafted UPEPA. Laura Lee Prather participated as the ABA’s advisor on the Committee, and Thomas R. Burke, author of The Rutter Group’s treatise on anti-SLAPP, served as an Observer.

This exceptionally well qualified panel will discuss how the national anti-SLAPP landscape is changing, both at state level and the debates in the federal courts over whether to apply state anti-SLAPP laws.