Jonathan Bilyk News
Judge gives win to Meta in court fight over use of Pegasus spyware to monitor Whatsapp users
A federal judge found Israel-based NSO liable for installing its Pegasus spyware program to intercept messages sent by about 1,400 users of Meta's Whatsapp messaging platform. The judge said the parties will face a trial over how much in damages NSO may need to pay to resolve the case
Judge refuses to delete class action over Twitter data breach
The lawsuit asserted the former owners and management at the social media platform formerly known as Twitter allowed an API defect to remain unfixed, letting hackers scrape private user data for nearly a year from 2021-2022 and then sell the data as recently as 2023
Appeals court: CA law may not allow seawalls to protect coastal homes built after 1977
A panel of the California First District Court of Appeal agreed with the California Coastal Commission that a Half Moon Bay condo complex can be denied a seawall, even though the Casa Mira Homeowners Association asserted their community will be washed away by the sea without one
SCOTUS to consider if other states, energy companies can sue to reverse California's special emissions regulating power
The U.S. Supreme Court won't consider - yet - if California gets to keep its outsized power to use a special provision in federal Clean Air law to essentially set vehicle emissions standards throughout the U.S. But the court will consider if other states and energy companies have the right to challenge that authority in court
Man may escape felony charge for fighting with cops because Ventura judge, D.A. mishandled case: CA Sup. Ct.
The California state Supreme Court agreed a Ventura County judge had exceeded authority in unilaterally reducing a man's felony charge for fighting with police officers. But they said the charges may yet be dismissed altogether, because of further missteps by the judge and Ventura County district attorneys in the case
Plaintiffs can seek emotional distress damages in class action vs CooperSurgical for loss of emrbyos
A San Francisco federal judge rejected CooperSurgical's efforts to toss a San Jose couple's class action lawsuit, which is one of at least 39 cases in California courts accusing the company of selling defective 'culture media' used by fertility clinics to aid embryo development in invitro fertilization
California clocks in at No. 5 on the list of worst U.S. 'Judicial Hellholes'
The report, released by the American Tort Reform Association, faulted California for permissive laws, regulations and court rules which allow the state to stand as a "laboratory" for trial lawyers to hit businesses with a host of different lawsuits, all working to make the Golden State more unfriendly to business and harming the state's economy
'De-transitioned' woman accuses doctors of 'medical abuse,' pushing her as child to become 'trans'
A young woman has sued prominent transgender youth doctor Johana Olson-Kennedy and others, accusing them of inflicting traumatic "medical abuse" in allegedly pushing a "scared, confused, and traumatized" girl into trans "affirming care," causing psychiatric problems and irreversible physical damage
Appeals court: Idaho can't interpret state abortion restrictions to block doctors from referring abortions
The decision from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals echoed decisions that had struck down a California Covid "misinformation" law, agreeing Idaho's attempt to criminalize out-of-state abortion referrals also would trample doctors' free speech rights to express professional medical opinions
SF 'Empty Homes Tax' unconstitutional, judges say; Violates landlords' rights to not rent homes
A San Francisco Superior Court judge issued a written ruling on Nov. 26, formally striking down San Francisco's 'Empty Homes Tax,' approved under Prop M, because it would illegally force property owners to either pay a potentially onerous annual tax or face the choice of leasing to strangers or selling their longtime homes
CA appeal court: Personal injury plaintiffs can't claim all hospital expenses, just because they visited ER once
The decision, which directed a Sacramento court to recalculate $3.3M in medical expenses and interest awarded to a car crash plaintiff, found the court had misapplied California's Hospital Lien Act. The court said the law allows plaintiffs to only seek expenses racked up from arrival at the ER to discharge, not into "perpetuity"
Woman who suffered stroke after crash can't sue Petaluma paramedics who responded to scene
A state appeals panel has ruled a woman who suffered a stroke that left her with impaired speech and partial paralysis after falling asleep hours after a car crash can't sue the paramedics who examined her on scene, in part because she refused repeated requests to transport her to the hospital for observation
Netflix beats investors' lawsuit claiming misled about extent of 'password sharing'
A San Francisco federal judge has ruled investors can't continue their lawsuit accusing media streaming giant Netflix of misleading shareholders and the market about restraints on growth from the company's alleged failure to adequately police and account for inter-household "password sharing"
Healdsburg family settles suit vs city over alleged unconstitutional 'inclusionary zoning' fees
The city of Healdsburg will pay a local couple $30K for trying to force them to pay $20K in 'inclusionary zoning fees' to get a permit and zoning needed to build their family a new home and rent out their existing duplex. The couple and their lawyers urged everyone to fight similar 'unconstitutional' fees
Judge grants final OK to $115M Oracle data privacy class action deal; Lawyers get $28.75M
About 3.2 million class members are set to receive $25 each from the deal. The judge overruled objectors who argued the plaintiffs settled too quickly for too little
Lawsuit: San Jose State, Mountain West Conf. retaliated vs women volleyballers' complaints over transgender athlete
The lawsuit seeks an injunction blocking San Jose State University from participating in the upcoming Mountain West Conference tournament. Plaintiffs are also seeking payout from the school and conference for allegedly punishing and silencing women's volleyball players and coaches who complained or raised questions
Grand Canyon University wins appeal over feds' efforts to block return to nonprofit status
One of the country's largest Christian colleges and universities has said it has been the target of a "coordinated" campaign by federal agencies, particularly under President Biden. Federal appeals court judges said the Education Department overreached its authority under the law in denying GCU's application for nonprofit status
Price becomes latest 'progressive prosecutor' tossed from office amid anti-crime outcry
Voters appeared to deliver big wins to the efforts to recall both Alameda County D.A. Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, following on successful efforts elsewhere to oust other progressive leaders whose policies have been blamed for spike in crime
Property tax raising Prop 5 appears headed to defeat, per preliminary election results
As of Nov. 7, 56% of California voters had voted "No" on Proposition 5, a measure promoted by California Democratic state lawmakers to make it significantly easier for local governments to amass new debt and raise property taxes in the name of infrastructure improvement and affordable housing
Newsom, 'soft-on-crime activists rebuked: California overwhelmingly OKs Prop 36
Despite opposition from Gov. Gavin Newsom and other powerful California Democrats and left-wing activists, voters in California overwhelmingly approved Prop 36 to undo progressive criminal justice reforms and restore the ability of cops and prosecutors to address California's sustained crisis of drug and property crime