Pants Suit

A few weeks ago we posted on the story of an administrative law judge in D.C. who was suing his local dry cleaners for more than $50 million over a pair of misplaced pants.

Yesterday, the case sadly went to trial. It garnered international media coverage--one of those lawyers as laughing stocks/Washington as laughing stock stories.

Fortunately, the plaintiff in the case, Roy Pearson, dropped his damages demand before trial, reducing it from $65 million to a mere $54 million.

Here's what we hope the judge does: award Mr. Pearson about $100 in damages for his lost pants and require Mr. Pearson to pay the attorneys fees of the defendant dry cleaners. Pearson should also be stripped of his job as an administrative judge for an obvious lack of judgement, which is a prerequisite to being a judge. Imagine having this whacko decide your case! The D.C. Bar, which has now suffered a nice little black eye, should also take some form of action.

The judge handling the trial also bears some blame in all this. She could've avoided the media spectacle by wisely striking most of Pearson's claims before the trial--indeed long before the trial so as to avoid needless legal expense by the defendant--and entering an order setting a limit on his damages.

The whole thing reflects adversely on our legal system.

Lawsuit USA

Josh Hancock was a terrific young relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, with a bright future ahead of him.

Sadly, Josh died in a car crash on April 29 when he slammed into a flat-bed tow truck in the wee hours of the morning.

According to police reports, Josh had twice the legally allowed limit of alcohol in his blood; he wasn't wearing a seat belt; he was speeding; and he was on his cell phone at the time of the accident.

Sounds to us like it was Josh's fault.

Aahhh, but we live in the U.S. It's always someone else's fault, and that's why we have our vaunted court system and our pricey lawyers.

Josh's dad, Dean Hancock, has, in the classic fashion that lawyers advocate, sued everyone in sight. He sued the restaurant where Josh was drinking; he sued the restaurant's manager; he sued the tow truck driver; and GET THIS: he even sued the driver whose stalled car on the highway resulted in calling the tow truck!!!!

Imagine that. It's late at night. Your car breaks down. You're tired, a bit scared, terribly worried. Finally, relief is in sight--the tow truck has arrived. But then a speeding drunk yakking on a cell phone, without the good sense to wear a seatbelt, slams into the tow truck, killing himself--but fortunately not hurting anyone else--and next thing you know you're a defendant in a friggin' lawsuit brought by, of all people, the dad who instilled such great values in the kid who ran into the tow truck!

Some country, eh?