Gopher Media LLC, a Nevada Limited Liability Corporation, fka Local Clicks, dba Doctor Multimedia, et al. v. Andrew Melone, et al.

“[A]ll final decisions” are appealable. 28 U.S.C. §1291. Whether a decision to deny a “pretrial request to dismiss” is final “will generally turn on whether the defendant has asserted a defense to liability or instead an immunity from suit.” GEO Grp., Inc. v. Menocal, 607 U.S. ___, 2026 WL 513536, at *4 (Feb. 25, 2026). Unlike liability defenses, immunities from suit are “irretrievably lost once trial occurs” because their “essence” is a right to “avoid[], in addition to liability, all the usual ‘burdens of litigation,’ including a trial.” Id. at *5. California was the first of thirty-nine states to provide Americans with statutory “anti-SLAPP” rights to avoid “harassment and burdens of litigation” targeting speech. Varian Med. Sys., Inc. v. Delfino, 106 P.3d 958, 967 (Cal. 2005). The circuits are divided on whether pretrial denials of such rights are immediately appealable. The en banc Ninth Circuit held they are not, departing from a majority of circuits holding they are. The question presented is: Whether a pretrial denial of rights conferred by California’s anti-SLAPP law is immediately appealable.