Action Apartment Ass'n v. City of Santa Monica, 41 Cal. 4th 1232 (2007)

Citation: Action Apartment Ass'n v. City of Santa Monica, 41 Cal. 4th 1232 (2007)
Parent Document: Action Apartment Ass'n v. City of Santa Monica, 41 Cal. 4th 1232 (2007)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 2007-08-02
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/5608052/action-apartment-assn-v-city-of... ↗

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This and other courts have emphasized the importance of the litigation privilege’s absolute protection of access to the courts, while recognizing that this absolute protection has its costs. “ ‘[It] is desirable to create an absolute privilege . . . not because we desire to protect the shady practitioner, but because we do not want the honest one to have to be concerned with [subsequent derivative] actions ....’” (Silberg, supra, 50 Cal.3d at p. 214, quoting Thornton v. Rhoden (1966) 245 Cal.App.2d 80, 99 [53 Cal.Rptr. 706].) “ ‘[W]hen there is a good faith intention to bring a suit, even malicious publications “are protected as part of the price paid for affording litigants the utmost freedom of access to the courts.” ’ ” (Mattco Forge, Inc. v. Arthur Young & Co. (1992) 5 Cal.App.4th 392, 405 [6 Cal.Rptr.2d 781].) Additionally, “in immunizing participants from liability for torts arising from communications made during judicial proceedings, the law places upon litigants the burden of exposing during trial the bias of witnesses and the falsity of evidence, thereby enhancing the finality of judgments and avoiding an unending roundelay of litigation, an evil far worse than an occasional unfair result.” (Silberg, supra, 50 Cal.3d at p. 214.)

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