Litigation Privilege Does Not Protect Attorneys.

Plaintiffs sued their neighbors for dumping contaminated debris on their property.  The court ordered the neighbors’ lawyers to disburse certain funds if their clients did not clean up as ordered.  When the neighbors did not remove the debris, their lawyers “disbursed the funds in a manner contrary to plaintiffs’ interest in remediating the debris on their property.” The trial court permitted plaintiffs to add causes of action for civil conspiracy against the neighbors’ attorneys on the ground the attorneys had conspired with their clients to interfere with the court-approved remediation plan. The appellate court affirmed the court’s order, concluding the claims are not barred by the litigation privilege “because, as alleged, the attorneys’ communications and affirmative misconduct interfered with the abatement of a nuisance, involved communications with nonparticipants to the action, and did not attempt to achieve the objects of any litigation.” Rickley v. Goodfriend  (Cal. App. Second Dist., Div. 1; January 16, 2013) 212 Cal.App.4th 1136.