Aaron Morris is an attorney with more than 35 years of experience. His primary practice areas include litigation arising from free speech issues (anti-SLAPP, defamation, first amendment), business litigation (breach of contract, trade secret, partnership dissolution, etc.), and appellate work. His appellate work has resulted in published opinions from the Court of Appeal, creating new precedents that afford greater protections relating to free speech. In the case of
Bell v. Feibush, the trial court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court all adopted his application of a Penal Code statute to civil fraud actions, allowing defrauded plaintiffs to recover treble damages and attorney fees. In the case of
Pagia v. Hamilton, he created new precedent regarding the striking of individual allegations with an anti-SLAPP motion. He is the current President of the California Defamation Lawyers Association, and host of the California SLAPP Law Podcast. He was an Adjunct Professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, California, teaching "Litigation Skills & Strategies" and at National University in Irvine, California, teaching litigation techniques. Mr. Morris is a writer and lecturer on the subjects of free speech, defamation and anti-SLAPP law, and is the author of California SLAPP Law. He has been a featured speaker at such functions as the American Bar Association Techshow. He has appeared on the national television shows "Leeza" and "Frontline." He is frequently asked to consult other law firms on anti-SLAPP motions and is a frequently retained as an expert to opine on fee applications following anti-SLAPP motions. Aaron Morris attended Southwestern University School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and graduated cum laude in 1987.
ARTICLES AND PUBLICATIONS: A prolific writer, Aaron Morris has published numerous articles in legal and computer related publications. He was the Editor in Chief of Law Office Technology Solutions and a Contributing Editor to Law Office Computing. His columns have been published in the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. He was a columnist for the Orange County Business Journal, Editor in Chief of the Southwestern University Law Review, Reporter, El Independiente (Newspaper), and Editor in Chief, Periodista (Newspaper). A small sampling of his published works include: Pipeline (Random Thoughts Publishing); To Drug Test or Not To Drug Test - An Employer's Dilemma (Orange County Business Journal); What is a SLAPPback Action? (California SLAPP Law); "Junk Faxes" - Protected Free Speech? (Orange County Business Journal); You Can Now be Sued for Calling the Police (California SLAPP Law); Be A Manager, Go To Jail (Orange County Business Journal); If I Can't Fire Him, Can I At Least Demote Him? (Orange County Business Journal); The Litigation Privilege and Collateral Defamation Actions (California SLAPP Law) Vendors of Real Estate: When Does Liability End? (17 Southwestern University Law Review 1, 23-42).
