Colo. High Court Addresses Application of Litigation Privilege in Class Actions

DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s litigation privilege shields attorneys from defamation claims arising from statements made about defendants they sue in class actions, if the statements “had some relation to and were made in furtherance of the objective of the class action litigation.”

In a Sept. 11 opinion, the court, in a unanimous en banc opinion, concluded that the litigation privilege gives attorneys a broad absolute privilege to speak where the statements served the purpose of notifying the public, absent class members, and potential witnesses.

In 2018, two law firms, Killmer, Lane & …