That is a big victory for the plaintiff. The court's opinion is here: Download Kipnis - Memorandum re MTD
This decision does not mean that, at trial, the plaintiff will prevail on these claims, but it does mean that the court believes that, depending on the evidence adduced during discovery, the allegations in the complaint all state claims for which the plaintiff could be entitled to recover. In any case, this is a significant loss for the defense to have failed to persuade the court to dismiss any of the claims. I haven't digested the whole opinion yet, so may say more later. (Cf. my earlier discussion of the legal issues.)
AND MORE: I've now read the court's opinion. It is most persuasive on the first claim, publication of private facts. The arguments on the other claims are reasonable ones, though could easily have gone the other way at various places. Years ago, when I first practiced law, a more experienced attorney said to me, "You win the case on the facts, by persauding the judge our client was screwed over; the law section of the brief just gives the judge a place to hang his hat." Reading the court's opinion, it is clear the judge was persuaded that plaintiff may have been badly wronged, and so he will let this lawsuit proceed. This spells trouble for defendants, though they may still prevail depending on what discovery reveals. Kudos to the plaintiff's lawyers, who briefed this case well!
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