California’s anti-SLAPP (“strategic lawsuit against public participation”) law has been an inviting first line of attack for defendants and cross-defendants—and a potential pitfall for plaintiffs and cross-complainants—ever since its passage 25 years ago. Enacted in 1992 as a deterrent to the filing of meritless lawsuits which prevent or punish the exercise of petition or free speech rights, the anti-SLAPP statute’s unique discovery stay, immediate appeal provisions, unavailability of leave to amend, and one-sided mandatory attorney-fee provisions make the anti-SLAPP special motion to strike one of the most powerful dispositive motions in California civil litigation.