Posted on 07/25/2007 11:37:06 AM PDT by MrLegalReform
Last month, Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled that Washington, D.C. administrative law Judge Roy Pearson would not get $54 million for his allegedly lost pants. The decision surprised no one except maybe Judge Pearson, who is expected to appeal the verdict.
But the "victory" for Jin, Soo, and Ki Chung, owners of Custom Cleaners, has cost them at least $83,000 in legal fees and counting. The case has drained their life savings and left them with a large debt.
I'm thrilled to say that the Institute for Legal Reform and the American Tort Reform Association co-hosted a fundraiser on their behalf which to date has collected more than $64,000 to help offset their legal defense costs.
(Excerpt) Read more at instituteforlegalreform.com ...
There’s nothing “good” about this whole stupid fiasco. The idiot who sued over a pair of pants should have to pay the total costs.
Bartnoff ordered Pearson to pay the Chungs' court costs -- likely to be a few thousand dollars -- to cover fees for filings, transcripts and similar expenses. But even bigger troubles loom. She said she will consider making Pearson also pay the couple's attorneys' fees arising from the two-year legal battle. With the legal costs likely to exceed $100,000, however, the Chungs aren't counting on Pearson being able to pay, Manning said.
The judge is also going to lose his job.
Cost him a bundle.
Judge didn't understand the law so he let Jer slide ~ didn't have to pay the mil. On the other hand when Jer's lawyers asked for reimbursement for their fees the Judge let us slide.
As I recall the number was in 6 figures.
There weren't all that many lawyers involved in the case, and no one spent much time researching the law ~ it's pretty clear and no one had ever "won". Lot of it had to do with court costs. In the end, it gave Jer one "free" mailing and he didn't do that again.
Sometime after that case the federal courts first began allowing folks to submit data and published evidence on CDs, so I know Jer didn't get off easy. Imagine how much "evidence" there is in a mailing ~ it's huge.
Still, there's a vast industry located in downtown DC near the courts dedicated to PRINTING evidence that will be filed in federal court cases. They employ thousands of people and generate most of the large 18 wheel traffic in the vicinity of J street.
The courts need to be brought up to date and reduced in size. They also need more parking. Judges should be given no more space than the average federal employee (about 150 sq.ft. counting aisles and hallways).
Give 'em a few bucks payraise and they'll go for it ~ or maybe just give their kids scholarships for college. You can ask Scalia about that problem.
Lawyers are certainly part of the problem, but so are the court and associated costs. Chung's lawyers' claims are just the tip of the iceberg.
Yup, that's the stuff.
To qualify as "printing" I think they need only 2 copies. Whatever it is, it costs a lot, the federal courts consume vast mountains ofit, and so far I've never, ever seen a single lawyer read any of it.
What a racket.
No argument here.
But first, let him entertain the Aristocrats.
“I mean, did they actually think that they were defending a $57 million suit?”
Not a suit. Pants.
Good one.
Imagine how much the suit must cost.
Well, yes, I'm sure that there's a very well funded study to determine if the earth will continue to rotate over the next 48 hours, and the sun will rise again (least from the viewpoint of us on earth.)
If it takes $83k to come up with, file and deliver the counter: Your honor, the plaintiff is full of dung, then there is a serious need to completely destroy the legal system as we know it, and just start again.
Or a suit with 2 pair of pants.
There are some moral hazards associated with 'loser pays', since a side that expects to win has no incentive to minimize its own legal expenses.
The judge hearing the case should have cut the whole thing off on Day 1. She should have sent Pearson for a court-ordered psych exam based on the absurdity of his initial filing and then dismissed the case when the obvious result was reported. There should never have been a day in court. Pearson is clearly seriously mentally ill. It made no more sense to allow this case to be heard, than to allow some ranter claiming “so-and-so turned me into a newt” to have a long drawn out court proceeding to consider the rant, and force the alleged newt-turner to hire defense attorneys.
The DC government should be picking up the tab for every cent of the Chungs’ legal expenses and a bundle more for their time and stress, and the judge who heard the case should be thrown off the bench. The DC government has a duty not to allow its judges to entertain frivolous lawsuits by obviously mentally unstable persons, at huge expense to perfectly innocent citizens.
Nope. Bartnoff should pay (and lose her job). Pearson should be committed to a mental hospital where he belongs, and where Bartnoff should have sent him the minute she read his filing unless he agreed to drop the suit immediately.
Unfortunately, the plaintiff is broke, and his prospects for future employment look mighty bleak. He couldn’t even get a job bagging fries at McDonald’s at this point. He is not a source of cash with which to compensate the Chungs.
It is not the fault of the Chungs or their attorneys that Judge Bartnoff allowed this insanity to drag on for 2 years. The suit was originally filed in May 2005, and although the 2 week trial didn’t start until June 2007, the Chungs’ attorneys were no doubt having to assemble evidence and file pre-trial motions in response to Pearson’s pre-trial motions and discovery demands. Certainly the Chungs’ attorneys filed multiple motions to dismiss, arguing essentially that “the plaintiff is full of dung”, but none of those motions caused Judge Bartnoff to dismiss the case. None of this should have been happening. It should have been stopped the minute a court official first laid eyes on Pearson’s initial filing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.