Vermont

Grade: B

Vermont has a good anti-SLAPP law. It was enacted in 2005.

Statute or Case Law? Any Forum? Any Public Issue? Mandatory Attorney Fees/Costs? Additional Burden? Amendment After Grant? Amendment While Pending? Immediate Appeal?
12 VSA section 1041 Y Y Y ? ?8 Y

8 Undecided, but amendment may not be used to avoid responsibility for costs and fees incurred in making a justified anti-SLAPP motion.

 

12 V.S.A. § 1041

Protects statements made in the course of or in connection with government proceedings, and statements and conduct in connection with an issue of public interest, unless devoid of any reasonable factual support and any arguable basis in law and harmful to the plaintiff.

 

Vermont SLAPP Stories:

Featured
High court hears arguments in defamation case
High court hears arguments in defamation case

A Vermont man sued a local newspaper for defamation, appealing the case to the Vermont Supreme Court. The paper challenged the lawsuit under Vermont's "anti-SLAPP" law.

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Vermont high court sides with newspaper in defamation suit
Vermont high court sides with newspaper in defamation suit

Defendants in a defamation suit brought by a candidate for the state legislature successfully had the lawsuit thrown out under Vermont's "anti-SLAPP" law. On appeal, the Vermont Supreme Court found "no error" in the lower court's ruling.

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Rarely used statute in Vermont helps student journalists escape a frivolous libel lawsuit
Rarely used statute in Vermont helps student journalists escape a frivolous libel lawsuit

A federal court dismissed a libel lawsuit filed by a North Carolina politician who claimed his 2012 presidential campaign was destroyed by a profile written by two student journalists from St. Michael’s College in Vermont. The court relied on the Vermont anti-SLAPP law in dismissing the suit, and the politician was ordered to pay $23,336 in attorney’s fees.

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