With the order granting the Times’ motion to dismiss the Trump case against it and its journalists, Judge Robert Teed, of New York County Supreme Court, ordered Trump to pay their attorneys’ fees, legal expenses and costs. Reed concluded the journalists’ conduct was protected by the New York Constitution, leading him to dismiss the claims Trump brought against the Times defendants.
” The judge also pointed to recent amendments made to New York’s so-called anti-SLAPP law — which provides a mechanism for defendants to seek quick dismissal of lawsuits that target conduct protected by the First Amendment — in explaining why he was ordering the dismissal of the defendants and the payment of their attorneys’ fees. “The revised anti-SLAPP law was specifically designed to apply to lawsuits like this one,” Judge Reed wrote.