Attorneys for D. Dean Mauro, of Waukegan, Ill., had sought review by claiming that an appellate court's decision to let Flatley's suit proceed threatened to "undermine the right to petition and open access to the courts."

"In one fell swoop," Orly Degani, a special counsel in the Los Angeles office of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, wrote, "the court held lawyers may be subject not only to civil action, but to criminal liability for extortion if they make aggressive pre-litigation settlement demands that simply state the obvious."

Mauro had sued Flatley for $35 million on behalf of ex-stripper Tyna Marie Robertson, who claimed that Flatley -- acclaimed for the popular "Riverdance" and "Lord of the Dance" road shows -- raped her at The Venetian in Las Vegas in October 2002. Flatley denied the allegations, saying the two had shared his two-bedroom suite consensually.

Mauro spent the next few months calling Flatley's lawyers and threatening to "go public" with the rape allegations and "ruin" Flatley. He demanded $1 million for his and his client's silence, according to court documents, and threatened to send news releases to Fox News, the Chicago Tribune and other media outlets after filing suit.

Robertson filed the suit in 2003, but dropped the case soon after Flatley countersued her and Mauro for civil extortion and other charges. Mauro then filed an anti-SLAPP motion, claiming he had been seeking a proper settlement and was, therefore, engaged in protected activity.

Flatley is represented by Bertram Fields, a partner at L.A.'s Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman Machtinger & Kinsella.