Michael v. Kaloustian
Respondents Dennis Michael and Rene Michael brought this suit for malicious prosecution and abuse of process against their sister Tina Kaloustian, her husband Varujan Kaloustian, and the Kaloustians' lawyers, Burch, Balian & Bergstein and Barbara Bergstein ("the attorney defendants"), all of whom are appellants here. Appellants filed a special motion to strike (Code Civ. Proc., 425.16), which the trial court denied, finding that while appellants, the moving defendants, had met their "initial burden . . . to demonstrate that the challenged cause of action arises from protected activity," respondents had in turn established a probability that they would prevail on their claims. (Brill Media Co., LLC v. TCW Group, Inc. (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 324, 329; Code Civ. Proc., 425.16, subd. (b)(1).) We agree that appellants met their burden (Jarrow Formulas, Inc. v. LaMarche (2003) 31 Cal.4th 728, 741), but after independent review (ComputerXpress, Inc. v. Jackson (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 993, 999) find that respondents failed to show the probability that they would prevail. Court thus reverse.
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