What's Wrong with America

We have a justice system that allows financial terrorism. The story: a guy's pants are missing at the dry cleaners. His solution? Sue the dry cleaners for $67 million. The kicker? This guy is a judge, using our justice system as a lottery to satisfy his idiot vengeance.

First, Pearson demanded $1,150 for a new suit. Lawyers were hired, legal wrangling ensued and eventually the Chungs offered Pearson $3,000 in compensation.

No dice.

Then they offered him $4,600.

No dice.

Finally, they offered $12,000 for the missing gray trousers with the red and blue stripes.

Pearson said no.

With neither satisfaction nor his prized gray pants, Pearson upped the ante considerably.

The judge went to the lawbooks. Citing the District of Columbia's consumer protection laws, he claims he is entitled to $1,500 per violation.

Per day.

What follows is the beginning of thousands of pages of legal documents and correspondence that, two years later, have led to a massive civil lawsuit in the amount of $67 million.

According to court papers, here's how Pearson calculates the damages and legal fees:

He believes he is entitled to $1,500 for each violation, each day during which the "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign and another sign promising "Same Day Service" was up in the store -- more than 1,200 days.

And he's multiplying each violation by three because he's suing Jin and Soo Chung and their son.

He also wants $500,000 in emotional damages and $542, 500 in legal fees, even though he is representing himself in court.

He wants $15,000 for 10 years' worth of weekend car rentals as well.

The scariest part for me is that he "was responsible for training and supervising a legal and support staff of 20-60 persons in neighborhood offices throughout the District of Columbia." He taught people this mentality. He's breeding.

They have it exactly right in the first article when they quote this:

"People in America are now scared of each other," legal expert Philip Howard told ABC News' Law & Justice Unit. "That's why teachers won't put an arm around a crying child, and doctors order unnecessary tests, and ministers won't meet with parishioners. It's a distrust of justice and it's changing our culture."

Tags: legal reform
by Brett Rogers, 5/2/2007 8:31:43 AM
Permalink

The judicial system has finally gone off the deep end. If only all the lawyers would follow to the bottom of the sea.

Now let's all get behind John Edwards, the poster child for this kind of lunacy.

Posted by Pale Rider, 5/2/2007 12:05:34 PM

So...did he actually get the money?

Posted by Bella, 5/2/2007 2:01:29 PM

All that over a pair of pants?! Rediculous.

How do you get money from someone who probably doesn't have any? I have a cousin who used to own a dry cleaning service. He worked wicked hours for a lousy wage. You can sue someone for $67million but if all they have is a dollar, that's all you're getting. This guy (the judge) is a moron and if anybody wonders why lawyers have a bad rep, he's the poster child (emphesis on child) that explains it all. Nothing like pushing your weight around just to make someone elses life suck.

Posted by Kelly, 5/2/2007 2:22:35 PM

Amen, PR.

Bella, he hasn't gotten the money. It's still pending in court, but from what I read, it's gone on for two years with thousands of pages of documents filed, and the owners of the dry cleaners have had to pay a ton in legal costs just to stay afloat in this.

Kelly, you go it. The guy is a self-important child, undermining his own profession. If his judgement is this poor, he's certainly a lousy judge.

Posted by Brett Rogers (http://www.beatcanvas.com), 5/2/2007 2:47:31 PM

Hmmm. Well, maybe some sort of 'justice' will prevail--from a legal standpoint. Not from a financial or moral one, granted. I feel bad for the dry cleaner, but as you said, this particular guy is a child and is undermining his profession. To damn an entire system for that seems a bit rash. It's a pity that the same laws that can protect and compensate genuine victims can be used like this...but ultimately, given the alternative of people not being able to be a pain in the ass but honestly wronged people going unrecognized...I'll take it.

Posted by Bella, 5/2/2007 3:00:43 PM

Hmmmmm damn the entire system? Now that is an idea I might like. We have Patrick Fitzgerald spending millions to prosecute a non-crime when he knew day one who leaked the name while Sandy "Burglar" Berger goes free after deliberately stealing documents from the national archives. Why he isn't in jail and gets his security clearance back is a crime in itself.

Now wasn't torte reform an issue during the 2004 campaign? Question followed by deafening silence and a pin dropping if the candidates are asked. Sadly this type of case is not that rare. From the moron getting several million from McDonald's for spilling hot coffee on herself, to the countless cases filed by inmates, to this. For cases like this I am all for making the plaintiff pay all legal costs and if the case is dumb enough, put them in jail for a few weekends to drive the point home.

Great subjects Brett. They definitely press my "it's on" button. :)

Posted by PR, 5/2/2007 3:51:46 PM

Oops make that "tort," not "torte." I must be hungry. :)

Posted by PR, 5/2/2007 4:00:34 PM

The McDonalds lady! (Not that it matters, but the moron was a 79 year old woman, PR. Be nice to your elders:>) Yeah, I knew she'd make an appearance here somewhere. Actually, she was awarded millions by a jury, that was overturned, and then McDonald's settled for an undisclosed amount that was likely somewhere in the hundreds of thousands...but we'll never know. It's a popular story amongst the tort reformers, has been for what? Ten years now? If you are for tort reform, I like Brett's story better.

And I'm not defending Mc Donald's lady. Was the coffee roughly the temperature of molten lava...probably not. hotter than usual? Maybe. But she still spilled it. It was an accident and they happen. Not really anybody's fault.

Thing is, the law applies to everybody, and if you cap damages, for every McDonald's lady or guy in Arkansas who sues his school district for 'disturbing' his teenage boys with lesbian sex books (one of my favorite stupid lawsuits lately) , there are the folks who get cancer from chemicals that were illegally buried or a guy who got a clamp left in his stomach by a crappy doctor. There are no 'cases like these' when it comes to the law...that's why justice is supposed to be blind. Is it? Probably not, but there is nobility in trying. It's not the system itself...it's the greed of the gears (lawyers, plantiffs and defendants) working it. What we need is judges more willing to make summary judgements and throw the more dumbass cases like this out of court.

Not that I expect to convince anybody here of that. I need to re-examine my circle of influence, versus my circle of concern. :-)

Posted by Bella, 5/2/2007 7:05:02 PM

How about a reality show based on this type of legal stupidity? Now there is 30 minutes a week I'd watch. Might as well drag some of these fools before the public eye so we can all get a good laugh, maybe donate to the defendant. It would sure beat most of the garbage on television these days.

Hey Bella, how far does your circle of influence extend? Me, it may reach my dog but it's 50/50 on whether or not it is my circle or his. :-)

I'm gonna have to find that Arkansas case, if I can stop laughing. That could be episode 1 of the show. One of my co-workers is searching for it now. :)

Posted by Pale Rider, 5/3/2007 3:43:33 PM

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/04/19/news/042007bzsuterfolo.txt

My favorite part is the dad complaining about it causing his sons 'sleepless nights.' I bet it did. :-)

Posted by Bella, 5/3/2007 5:53:53 PM