Supreme Court's Missing Man

Plaintiff Whose Case Was Accepted by High Court in Rare Move Has Disappeared

Bobby Chen achieved the rarest of legal feats last month: Even though he had no lawyer, he persuaded the Supreme Court to hear his case, a battle with the city of Baltimore over a torn-down row house. Now, the court can’t find him.

Lawyers seeking to help Mr. Chen also don’t know how to reach him. Baltimore officials haven’t heard from him either. It is a high-court mystery seemingly without modern precedent, and it has court officials scratching their heads.

“Attempts have been made to contact Mr. Chen by letter and email, but there has been no confirmation that the communications were received,” said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg. Neither Mr. Chen nor anyone claiming to represent him has contacted the clerk’s office, she said.

Mr. Chen had sued Baltimore on allegations the city illegally razed his row house in 2008 to conceal property damage caused by the demolition of a city-owned house next door. “He was surprised, shocked, depressed and sad but could do nothing,” Mr. Chen wrote in his Supreme Court petition, referring to himself in the third person. The lawsuit seeks $500,000 in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages.

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