July 2010 News
St. Joseph County Circuit Court awards attorney fees to The South Bend Tribune for fees incurred in defending baseless defamation lawsuit
John Twohy and Matt Ver Steeg represented The South Bend Tribune in a lawsuit filed against it by Michael Sheneman, a South Bend resident. Sheneman filed the lawsuit against The Tribune after it printed several stories about Sheneman. The newspaper's stories detailed several lawsuits that had been filed against Sheneman, all of them claiming that Sheneman had participated in a mortgage fraud scheme. John and Matt filed a motion to dismiss Sheneman's lawsuit against The Tribune, relying upon an Indiana law which is intended to reduce the number of lawsuits filed primarily to chill the valid exercise of free speech. The court granted the motion to dismiss and ordered that Sheneman pay the attorney fees incurred by The Tribune. John and Matt work in the firm's Hammond office, and can be reached at (219) 931-0560, or by email at jtwohy@eichhorn-law.com or mversteeg@eichhorn-law.com.