# Maryland — Anti-SLAPP special motion deadlines, fee-shifting and discovery stay by state

For Maryland, effect on discovery is A defendant in an alleged SLAPP suit may move to: (1) Dismiss the alleged SLAPP suit, in which case the court shall hold a hearing on the motion to dismiss as soon as practicable; or (2) Stay all court proceedings until the matter about which the defendant communicated to the government body or the public at large is resolved; statute is Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-807, recorded from its source on 2026-09-02.

- **State:** Maryland _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Effect on discovery:** A defendant in an alleged SLAPP suit may move to: (1) Dismiss the alleged SLAPP suit, in which case the court shall hold a hearing on the motion to dismiss as soon as practicable; or (2) Stay all court proceedings until the matter about which the defendant communicated to the government body or the public at large is resolved. _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Statute:** Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-807 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> (d) A defendant in an alleged SLAPP suit may move to: (1) Dismiss the alleged SLAPP suit, in which case the court shall hold a hearing on the motion to dismiss as soon as practicable; or (2) Stay all court proceedings until the matter about which the defendant communicated to the government body or the public at large is resolved.

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### Effect on discovery

> (d) A defendant in an alleged SLAPP suit may move to: (1) Dismiss the alleged SLAPP suit, in which case the court shall hold a hearing on the motion to dismiss as soon as practicable; or (2) Stay all court proceedings until the matter about which the defendant communicated to the government body or the public at large is resolved.

## Source

- https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=5-807&enactments=false

Last verified: 2026-09-02. Review by: 2027-09-02.
Part of [Anti-SLAPP special motion deadlines, fee-shifting and discovery stay by state](https://referencesource.org/anti-slapp-motion-provisions-by-state/).