They Beat the Pants off Him

Justice prevails. The decision in the "case of the purloined pants," a/k/a the matter of the DC Administrative Law Judge Pearson vs. the Dry Cleaners, has been rendered. See Hell Hath No Fury . . . and Another Pair of Pants for details on the case.

The D.C. administrative law judge who sued his neighborhood dry cleaner for $54 million over a pair of lost pants found out this morning what he's going to get for all his troubles.

Nothing. (Emphasis added)

See Plaintiff Gets Nothing in $54M Case of Missing Pants.

Right. He got precisely what he deserved. The pants beat off him. As Marc Fisher of the Post's Raw Fisher explained:

In an extremely cautious and detailed ruling, D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff this morning said that Administrative Law Judge Roy Pearson deserves not a penny of the $67 million that he once demanded in compensation for a mixup at his neighborhood dry cleaners.

But astonishingly, Bartnoff said not a word in her decision about Pearson's handling of the case, or about the size of his demand, or about the bizarre scale of his legal assault on the immigrant family who own Custom Cleaners on Bladensburg Road NE.

Perhaps the judge didn't need to: She spoke with her actions instead, awarding the Chung family the costs of the case--an unusual move in a civil case in which each side would ordinarily be expected to pay their own costs. (But awarding costs is not the same as awarding attorney's fees--the big financial blow in any legal matter--and Judge Bartnoff said she would make that decision at a later date.) The Chungs were laid low by Pearson's two-year pursuit of the case; their legal fees wiped out their savings and forced them to consider moving back to their native land of South Korea."

The Washington Post article noted of Pearson:

Financially, he could soon be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees incurred by the owners of Customer Cleaners. Attorneys for the Chungs have said they will seek such payments, as well as sanctions against Pearson for bringing the lawsuit. Bartnoff said in her ruling that she would decide those issues after both sides have filed their motions, counter-motions and legal briefs.

Professionally, Pearson could find himself out of his $96,000-a-year job as an administrative law judge for the District government.

Unfortunately, I would guess that he has little in the way of assets to pay the costs and legal fees, even if awarded to the Chungs. Hopefully, at least he will have to pay by being denied the ALJ position, since he clearly doesn't have the judicial temperament to sit in judgment of anyone.

UPDATE (6/27): Marc Fisher of the Washington Post confirms the view that an attorney fee award would likely be a hollow victory for the Chungs, since Pearson has few, if any assets to pay the award. See A Scary View of U.S. Legal System.

Tags: News, Law, Pearson