Somerset County Board of Education recently hired Schifanelli Law LLP to represent the county in all legal matters pending before the local Board of Education.
Lacking a full understanding of the matter, some of the less informed citizens appeared to criticize the Board of Education for hiring the law firm. What they failed to investigate before arriving at the public Board meeting (while intent on showcasing their own misconceptions) is that Schifanelli Law ranks among Maryland’s top firms in government litigation and has made historic contributions to the state’s legal profession.
While the citizens of Somerset County attended the local board meeting last night, the Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge issued a historic victory for the Schifanelli lawyers and their client Savana Webber. You can read the entire opinion by the court here.
The case is Sisterhood Agenda Inc v Savana Weber.
This case was filed by Sisterhood Agenda Inc., a non-profit organization claiming that Savana Weber defamed them when she complained to government officials and her representatives in Baltimore County and on Facebook about Baltimore County’s $1,000,000 dollar grant to build “Section 8 housing” adjacent to her property.
Marc Schifanelli, Esq. took the representation of the Defendant on an extremely low bono basis, and managed to not only dismiss the Plaintiff’s complaints, but Schifanelli also proved the bad faith of the Plaintiff (Sisterhood Agenda Inc.) in suing a poor resident of Baltimore County. Schifanelli skillfully won the attorneys fees for the Defendant.
In pursuing the defense and helping a defendant/citizen Savana Weber, attorney Schifanelli secured the right for her freedom of speech – the cornerstone of the United States Bill of rights. At the time when Ms. Weber was most vulnerable, she couldn’t afford a lawyer and was without competent legal representation. She was being sued by a non-profit organization who took the grant funds given to them, and used these funds to sue Ms. Weber for complaining to local government officials about the “Section 8 housing project” that the Plaintiff advertised on their own marketing materials in order to get a $1,000,000 grant from Baltimore County. The Plaintiff claimed that the Defendant’s words “Section 8 housing development” was “defamatory”.
It is worth noting that dismissal of lawsuits and winning the attorneys fees under the anti-SLAPP statute (Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-807), enacted in 2004, has been rarely successful.
good job by these attornys now do the scumbags hiding under a so called charity have to give up the money they stole?
GOD BLESS the Schifanellis.