ComputerXpress, Inc. v. Jackson

In ComputerXpress, Inc. v. Jackson (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 993, the defendants cited Church of Scientology v. Wollersheim (1996), supra, 42 Cal.App.4th 628, in support of their contention "that a lawsuit is adequately shown to be one 'arising from' an act in furtherance of the rights of petition or free speech as long as suit was brought after the defendant engaged in such an act, whether or not the purported basis for the suit is that act itself." (ComputerXpress, supra, at p. 1002.) The court rejected the contention, explaining that Church of Scientology "cannot be read to mean that any claim asserted in an action which arguably was filed in retaliation for the exercise of speech or petition rights falls under section 425.16, whether or not the claim is based on conduct in exercise of those rights. To the contrary, Church of Scientology specifically found that the church's suit was based on Wollersheim's exercise of such a right -- it sought to set aside the judgment obtained in his prior lawsuit against the church, an exercise of his right of petition." ( ComputerXpress, supra, 93 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1002-1003, citing Church of Scientology, supra, 42 Cal.App.4th at pp. 647-648.) Section 425.16 "requires that 'the act underlying the plaintiff's cause' or 'the act which forms the basis for the plaintiff's cause of action' must itself have been an act in furtherance of the right of petition or free speech." ( ComputerXpress, supra, 93 Cal.App.4th at p. 1003.)