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.
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” 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.
Although it has been a law for over 20 years, lawyers rarely know about it and how to litigate it in order to win.
Prior to the Sisterhood Agenda v Savana Webber case, there were only 2 prior cases in Maryland’s history in which an attorney managed to dismiss the Plaintiff’s complaints based on the SLAPP statute:
The second one is MCB Woodberry Developer, LLC v. Council of Owners of Millrace Condominium, Inc. (2021), a landmark ruling on the application of Maryland’s anti-SLAPP statute (Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-807).
In this case, a real estate developer (originally VS Clipper Mill LLC, later substituted by MCB Woodberry Developer LLC) sued residents and condominium associations in Baltimore’s Clipper Mill/Woodberry area for $25 million. The residents had publicly opposed the developer’s proposed changes to a planned unit development, including speaking at public hearings and challenging approvals.
The defendants successfully moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing it was a SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) — a meritless action intended to intimidate and silence critics exercising their First Amendment rights (or equivalent rights under the Maryland Declaration of Rights) on matters of public concern.
The reason why litigation on the anti-SLAPP statute is extremely difficult in the law profession is that it requires an enormous amount of attention in gathering evidence and deciphering between legal conclusions, facts, and opinions. That is why the defense under SLAPP has rarely been successful.
Schifanelli lawyers are one of the law firms which has managed to prove that their success stems from their enormous life experience. Managing partner Marc Schifanelli is a retired counterintelligence Army Special Forces Officer with worldwide experience and tactical training in matters which require strategy beyond good legal writing.
The combination of his legal research and effective strategy in managing the lawsuit for Ms. Webber and Somerset County secured a successful outcome for their clients.
The Somerset County Board of Education managed to reach out to Schifanelli Law (just like Ms. Webber) to ask for assistance in representing them in a mountain of law cases they were facing in early 2025.
Within 8 months, the Schifanelli lawyers successfully resolved all outstanding legal matters and managed to bring the labor negotiations with the teachers’ union to a successful conclusion.
Fellows & Editors, Delmarva Parent Teacher Coalition
This article was originally published on the DelmarvaPTC.org.
