Dry Cleaning Shop to Close ($67M lawsuit case)

Source: New York Times

The owners of a dry-cleaning business here are shutting down the store that was involved in a $67 million lawsuit over a pair of pants. A lawyer for the owners of Custom Cleaners, Jin Nam Chung and Ki Chung, said they were closing the store because of a loss of revenue and the emotional strain of defending the suit. They will continue to operate another cleaning business. A customer, Roy Pearson Jr., sued after accusing them of losing a pair of his pants. He originally sued for $67 million, later lowering his claim to $54 million. A judge denied Mr. Pearson’s claim in June, but he is appealing.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/us/20brfs-DRYCLEANINGS_BRF.html?ex=1347940800&en=4a262dafa9bd4059&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The South Korean immigrants cite loss of revenue and the emotional strain of defending the lawsuit as the causes. They will focus their energy on another dry-cleaning shop they still own, lawyer Chris Manning said.

"This is a truly tragic example of how devastating frivolous litigation can be to the American people and to small businesses," Manning said in a statement.

Soo Chung and her husband, Jin Nam Chung, dealt with more than two years of litigation after a former customer of Custom Cleaners alleged they had lost a pair of his pants, then sued for $67 million US under the District of Columbia's strict consumer protection act.

Plaintiff Roy Pearson, a local administrative law judge, later lowered his demand to $54 million US. He said the "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and "Same Day Service" signs that once hung in the shop were misleading and fraudulent.

The case went to trial in June and a D.C. Superior Court judge ruled in favour of the Chungs, awarding Pearson nothing. Pearson is pursuing an appeal.


http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/09/19/drycleaner-lawsuit.html

He has previously been a strong voice against "frivolous" lawsuits, such as those brought against tobacco peddlers and mass poisoners who leak carcinogens into the water supply. But driving some hard working immigrants to bankrupcy by suing for an absurd amount because of a misplaced pair of pants? Clearly, that has FAR more merit than the other cases he's denounced. :eyes:

Edit: Prompted to do research, I find that he is, in fact, a Democrat. Ooo, have the right wing bloggers had a field day with this one! :nuke:

what would the world be without them?........hmm...a better place?

:hi:

Every group has it's share of asshats.

Note: The guy who is suing is a former judge and lawyer.

In which case, he is more than likely a Democrat.

http://oah.dc.gov/oah/cwp/view,A,3,Q,604474.asp

But there is an excerpt from another source (but no indication of party affiliation):

Roy L. Pearson, Jr. began serving as an Administrative Law Judge for the District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings on May 2, 2005. Before his appointment he served for two years as a contract hearing examiner for the DC Office of Police Complaints.

Judge Pearson was an attorney with the Neighborhood Legal Services Program (“NLSP”) from July 1978 through July 2002; the last 13 years as the Assistant Director for Legal Operations. In the latter capacity Judge Pearson was responsible for training and supervising a legal and support staff of 20-60 persons in neighborhood offices throughout the District of Columbia. NLSP provides civil legal assistance to indigent residents of the District of Columbia. During his tenure with NLSP Judge Pearson obtained jury verdicts in excess of $1 million dollars in both the DC Superior Court and the US District Court for the District of Columbia. His landmark Superior Court verdict of $15.9 million for nine clients was settled, after partial reversal and remand, on confidential terms.

Judge Pearson has been active in the Washington, DC community for decades and has served as counsel or board member for such organizations as the Columbia Heights Youth Club, the Fort Lincoln Civic Association, Inc., Black Seeds, Inc., the Washington Council of Lawyers, and the DC chapter of the National Council of Black Lawyers.

He earned his JD from Northwestern University School of Law. After graduation, he was first a graduate teaching fellow, and then assistant director, of a clinical program at the Georgetown University School of Law. The clinical program provided legal research, policy analysis and drafting assistance to committees of the Council of the Judge Pearson has been a member of the Bar since 1978, and of the US Supreme Court Bar since 1985.




http://thedocisin.net/?m=20070503

hadn't heard that before.

The judge overhearing the case had no choice but to follow the process to the letter.


Despite being offered an opportunity to stop the insanity, and save not just a modicum of dignity but perhaps his job, Roy Pearson has decided to continue with his claim, already once denied, for $54 million for a pair of pants. Pearson, an administrative law judge (at least for now) in D.C., filed an appeal yesterday of Judge Judith Bartnoff's decision in the infamous pants lawsuit.

The appeals process will move forward over the next three to four months. There is a chance the D.C. Court of Appeals will affirm the existing ruling, but if not, it will be another 12 to 18 months before this case is decided.

Jin and Soo Chung, owners of Custom Cleaners, "continue to be baffled by Mr. Pearson's actions," says their lawyer, Christopher C.S. Manning. They had dropped their motion to recover legal fees as an "olive branch" in the hopes of ending what they have called "a nightmare." Manning says they are very "disheartened" by the process and are even considering closing their business "just to be rid of the memory of this case." Manning said that with his appeal, Pearson has chosen "desperate irrationality over common sense."

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2007/08/roy_pearson_appeals_custom_cle_1.html

Roy Pearson is insane, but that doesn't mean he's dumb:

IANAL, but they appear to have standing.

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 17, 2007; Page B04

The judge who sent Roy Pearson packing gave him a final sendoff yesterday.

In a written order, D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff offered her take on the efforts by the Northeast Washington dry cleaners to collect attorneys' fees stemming from Pearson's failed lawsuit over a pair of pants. They were hardly frivolous, as Pearson had claimed, she said.

Ordinarily, awarding attorneys' fees against a consumer plaintiff such as Pearson would be unusual, Bartnoff said.

"But this is an unusual case, in which the plaintiff attempted to take what was at best a misunderstanding about one pair of pants and expand it to a claim of $67 million, based on legal theories that -- once they clearly were articulated -- were unsupported in fact or in law," the judge said.

On Monday, in a bid to bring the case to an end, the owners of Custom Cleaners withdrew their demand for attorneys' fees and asked Pearson to forgo his plans to appeal the verdict against him.

But Pearson, who had sought attorneys' fees of his own, didn't bite and, a day later, filed official notice that he would appeal the case.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081602387.html