Who is Steve Farese? Tuohy family’s lawyer says ex-NFL player Michael Oher’s petition is 'completely false'
SHELBY COUNTY, TENNESSEE: Steve Farese, the lawyer representing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy who took in former NFL player Michael Oher and inspired the movie 'The Blind Side,' has dismissed Oher’s legal petition to end their conservatorship over him as “completely false”.
Oher claims that the Tuohy's lied to him about adopting him in 2004 and used a conservatorship to profit from his life story without his consent.
Oher later played football at the university attended by the Tuohys, Mississippi, and later in the NFL where he played for the Baltimore Ravens and won a Super Bowl.
Who is Steve Farese?
Steve Farese, the lawyer representing Tuohy's told News Nation that the lawsuit is "completely false, and when the proof comes out, everyone will see the truth.
He added further, "You know, numbers don't lie. Paper trails don't lie. And when the proper time comes and we present the truth, I think it will be evident to everyone of what's going on here."
The Tuohy family received a portion of 'The Blind Side' movies $309 million in revenue.
Oher, however, asserted that the family had utilized the conservatorship to prevent him from receiving millions in profit from the well-known movie.
Tuohy family received a portion of 'The Blind Side' movies $309 million in revenue(Instagram/@leighannetuohy and @michaeloher)Attorney Michael Singer claims Tuohy's have treated Michael Oher like a son
In the lawsuit filed on Monday in Tennessee court, Oher has asked for the conservatorship to be terminated and demands a full accounting of the money earned in his name.
He says the adoption at the movie’s centre was a sham engineered by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy for profit.
Farese, however, criticized this and added the movie was more than just Oher. He said that the Tuohy family “sacrificed” for Oher.
"This story was about a family — about a brother, about a sister, about a mother, about a father,” Farese said.
One more attorney named Michael Singer claimed Oher attempted to extort the family by threatening to go public if they didn't pay him $15 million.
“In reality, the Tuohys opened their home to Oher, offered him structure, support and, most of all, unconditional love,” Singer’s statement said. “They have consistently treated him like a son and one of their three children.”
Steve Farese is a 'high-profile' lawyer interviewed by Vanity Fair
Steve Farese is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a Charter Member of Miss Lawyers for Constitutional Justice.
He is also a member of the American Bar Association, Mississippi Bar Association and Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association according to FareseLaw.
Besides other services, he is also licensed in Tennessee and a member of the Tennessee Bar Association and the Memphis Bar Association.
He has handled numerous "high profile" cases and has been interviewed by Vanity Fair. He has also appeared on Prime Time, Court TV, A&E's City Confidential, People Magazine, Nancy Grace, Larry King Live, Greta Van Sustren, and Good Morning America.
Steve and his wife Suzanne have three children, one of whom is Steve Jr, an attorney who practices law in the Farese Law Office.