Texas Anti-Slapp appeals – 20 days

Notice 20 days

Appeals from both the denial and granting of a Texas Anti-Slapp motion to dismiss require that the notice be filed within twenty days. 02-20-00290-CV.

Under TCPA Section 27.008(b), “[a]n appellate court shall expedite an appeal or other writ, whether interlocutory or not, from a trial court order on a motion to dismiss a legal action under Section 27.003 or from a trial court’s failure to rule on that motion in the time prescribed by Section 27.005.” Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 27.008(b) (emphasis added). Appeals that are statutorily required to be expedited are accelerated appeals. Tex. R. App. P. 28.1(a). In an accelerated appeal, a notice of appeal must be filed within 20 days after the date the judgment or order is signed or within 35 days, if a motion to extend time has been filed. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b), 26.3, 28.1(b). Filing a new-trial motion, any other posttrial motion, or a request for findings of fact will not extend the time to perfect an accelerated appeal. Tex. R. App. P. 28.1(b). Absent a timely filed notice of appeal or extension request, we lack jurisdiction.

Lasater and KeyCity Capital argue in their response to Thompson’s dismissal motion that Section 27.008(b)’s phrase “a trial court order on a motion to dismiss” should be interpreted to mean an order denying a TCPA dismissal motion, and for this reason, only appeals from interlocutory orders denying TCPA dismissal motions are accelerated. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 27.008(b). But Section 27.008(b)’s plain language does not support this interpretation. Any appeal—”whether interlocutory or not”—from a trial-court order on a TCPA dismissal motion is expedited and is thus accelerated.