Non-tax, but a sad/funny story about our legal profession in today’s Washington Post: Lawyer’s Price For Missing Pants: $65 Million, by Marc Fisher:
When the neighborhood dry cleaner misplaced Roy Pearson’s pants, he took action. … Pearson is seeking to make Custom Cleaners pay … $65,462,500. The original alteration work on the pants cost $10.50. By the way, Pearson is a lawyer. Okay, you probably figured that. But get this: He’s a judge, too — an administrative law judge for the District of Columbia. …
Why should Ki, Jin and Soo Chung — the family that owns Custom Cleaners on Bladensburg Road NE in the District’s Fort Lincoln section — pay Pearson $15,000 so he can rent a car every weekend for 10 years? The plaintiff, who says he has devoted more than 1,000 hours to represent himself in this battle, says that as a result of poor service at Custom, he must find another cleaner. And because Pearson does not own a car, he says he will have to rent one to get his clothes taken care of. This, he says, amounts to fraud, negligence and a scam. …
A week after that routine mishap — pants go astray all the time at cleaners — Soo Chung came up with gray trousers that she said were Pearson’s. But when the judge said that he had dropped off pants with red and blue pinstripes, there was no joy in Fort Lincoln. Pearson’s first letter to the Chungs sought $1,150 so he could buy a new suit. Two lawyers and many legal bills later, the Chungs offered Pearson $3,000, then $4,600 and, finally, says their attorney, Chris Manning, $12,000 to settle the case. But Pearson pushes on. How does he get to $65 million? The District’s consumer protection law provides for damages of $1,500 per violation per day. Pearson started multiplying: 12 violations over 1,200 days, times three defendants. A pant leg here, a pant leg there, and soon, you’re talking $65 million. The case, set for trial in June, is on its second judge. …
In a closet of a lawyer’s office in downtown Washington, there is a pair of gray wool pants, waiting to be picked up by Roy Pearson. "We believe the pants are his," Manning says. "The tag matches his receipt."
(Hat Tip: Howard Bashman.)
