Oren Royal Oaks Venture v. Greenberg, Bernard, Weiss & Karma Inc.

Opinion

GRODIN, J.

In this case we must determine what role the statutory “privilege” for statements made in the course of a judicial proceeding (Civ. Code, § 47, subd. 2 [hereafter § 47(2)])1 plays in an abuse of process action. In particular, we must decide whether section 47(2) precludes a court from making evidentiary use of statements made during negotiation sessions in determining whether a defendant in an abuse of process action acted for an improper “ulterior” purpose.

As we shall explain, we conclude that section 47(2) does not bar the evidentiary use of such statements to establish the…