Legal Ethics

Judge Who Sued Dry Cleaner For $54 Million Over Missing Pants About To Get Wedgie From Disciplinary Committee

Just when you thought this case couldn't get any stupider.

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When dry cleaners lost former judge Roy Pearson Jr.’s pants, he didn’t respond the way most of us would. Instead of asking for, at best, a few hundred dollars to cover the loss, Pearson mounted an all-out legal assault on the cleaner, eventually seeking $67 million before reducing the claim to $54 million.

The Infinity Trousers aren’t worth that much.

He hadn’t even really lost his pants! The cleaner found them, but Pearson soldiered on, arguing that he still had a case because he didn’t receive same-day service.

The case cost Pearson his job and any semblance of professional dignity. Now, over 10 years after Pearson’s pants went missing, D.C. is finally getting around to disciplining the former judge for his abuse of the legal system.

But, since this is D.C., even this long-delayed response has to get unnecessarily drawn out. While the hearing committee recommended a stayed suspension, the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility is pushing back, seeking a 90-day suspension in a 35-page filing recounting the Case of the Purloined Pantaloons in excruciating detail. Including this fun twist:

Indeed, it is apparent that, as the case neared a conclusion, the trial court recognized the frivolous nature of Respondent’s claims. In order to “put [the] matter behind them,” the Defendants withdrew their post-trial bill of costs and motions for attorneys’ fees and sanctions. BX 72. Respondent, rather predictably, sought an award of his attorneys’ fees for opposing those motions.

The trial court figured out this was frivolous “as the case neared a conclusion”?!?!? Forget disciplining Pearson, someone haul that trial judge before the Committee and figure out how this case got that far!

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But, seriously, is it possible that this disciplinary process is a greater waste of judicial resources than the original suit? Over a decade after the fact and quibbling over a slap on the wrist or… a slightly harder slap on the wrist? Is this really the best use of our time? He made a mistake ten years ago, but Roy Pearson Jr. is just a man who puts his pants on one leg at a time.

And then sues people over it.

(Read the full report on the stupidest lawsuit ever on the next page.)

DC ethics board seeks suspension for ex-judge’s ‘manifestly absurd’ claims in $67M lost-pants suit [ABA Journal]
D.C. Board Proposes Suspension Of Pants Judge [Legal Profession Blog]

Earlier: Judge Who Sued Dry Cleaners Over Missing Pants Facing Ethics Charges
It’s Official: Pants Suit Plaintiff Loses Post
Nationwide Layoff Watch: Roy Pearson
Crazy Plaintiffs Who Sue the Dry Cleaners Need Not Apply
Roy Pearson: From Pseudo-Judge To Ex-Pseudo-Judge?
Roy Pearson: No Justice, No Pants… No Job
Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back to the Cleaners
Pearson v. Custom Cleaners: Liveblogging the Case of the $54 Million Pants

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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