Welch v. Nyberg, No. 2005L009751 (Ill. Cir. Ct., Cook County dismissed Dec. 5, 2005)
Welch v. Nyberg, No. 2005L009752 (Ill. Cir. Ct., Cook County dismissed Dec. 5, 2005).

Status: Dismissed

Emanuel “Chris” Welch, president of the District 209 (Proviso Township High Schools) school board, and his brother Bill Welch filed suit against blogger Carl Nyberg after Nyberg filed an ethics complaint against Emanuel Welch over his vote in Aug. 2005 to hire Bill Welch as a school custodian. Besides being his brother, Emanuel Welch represented Bill Welch when he was indicted on drug possession charges in 2003. (The charges were eventually dropped). The ethics complaint alleges that Emanuel Welch did not disclose this representation when voting on his brother's employment. The Welches responded with a libel suit based on postings on Nyberg’s blog (provisoprobe.blogspot.com) about the ethics complaint and the drug charges, as well as a letter that Nyberg sent to the head of Emanuel Welch’s law firm. In late November 2005, the court granted plaintiffs’ motion to dismiss the case without prejudice.

Links and Court Documents:

http://www.citmedialaw.org/welch-v-nyberg

http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=38&ArticleID=631&TM=63543.2

http://provisoprobe.blogspot.com/2005/09/welch-brothers-file-suit-against.html

http://provisoprobe.blogspot.com/2005/12/defam-welch-suits-dismissed-without.html

http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=38&ArticleID=839&TM=3636.928