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Two local items

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:00 pm
by Tom Flapwell
274: The number of top female executives per 100,000 residents in Washington [D.C.] -- the highest such figure in the nation for major metropolitan areas, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The San Francisco/San Jose area was second.
Nice to know that my city is #1 in something positive.

This next item is remarkable partly for its absurd figures and partly for its unintentionally funny initial ambiguity:
D.C. Judge Drops Pants from Suit
A customer who believes he was mistreated by a dry cleaner has dropped the pants from his suit.

Roy L. Pearson, who filed a $67 million lawsuit against the dry cleaning business that lost his pants, has lowered his demand. Now, he's asking for only $54 million.

The District of Columbia administrative law judge first sued Custom Cleaners over a pair of pants that went missing two years ago. He was seeking about $65 million under the D.C. consumer protection act and almost $2 million in common law claims.

He is focusing his claims on signs in the shop that have since been removed. The suit alleges that three defendants, Jin Nam Chung, Soo Chung and their son, Ki Chung, committed fraud and misled consumers with signs that claimed "Satisfaction Guaranteed."

Chris Manning, the Chungs' attorney, says, "I'm still baffled, unless it's simply to harass and annoy my clients."

Manning says he doesn't expect pearson to win any compensation when the trial starts June 11.
Better hope he doesn't discover this headline, or the paper will be sued for about $80 million.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:05 pm
by Sage
I wonder what would happen if only smart people inhabited this earth...

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:47 pm
by Doc Sigma
In some countries, if you file a civil suit and lose, you have to pay the other side's legal fees. Shame we don't have that here in the States...

Even better would be, if you sue somebody for $X and lose, then YOU have to pay THEM the $X!

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:32 pm
by osprey
I wonder what would happen if only smart people inhabited this earth...
There wouldn't be a law judge sueing a cleaner for $54 million.

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:27 am
by gforce422
I wonder what would happen if only smart people inhabited this earth...
There wouldn't be a law judge sueing a cleaner for $54 million.
Plus we wouldn't have this amusing headline. I think the role stupid people play here is to amuse us smart people with their antics. :lol:

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:02 am
by Muninn
It wasn't the stupidity that struck me but a reaffirmation of how outlandishly expensive these lawsuits can be in America. I think there should be a limit to how much you can sue for in certain situations.

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:04 am
by Bocaj Claw
Thats what "mental anguish" is for. As Dave Barry once had someone else say "certain types of pain are very hard to disprove."

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:50 pm
by Steve the Pocket
In some countries, if you file a civil suit and lose, you have to pay the other side's legal fees. Shame we don't have that here in the States...

Even better would be, if you sue somebody for $X and lose, then YOU have to pay THEM the $X!
So then it's like gambling? "I bet you $20 million I can win this case." Cool, except that would cover legitimate suits that lose as well as the frivolous ones.

Granted, I think some higher judges are allowed to rule that the plaintiff has to pay penalties for wasting the court's time, if they want to. But I'm not sure. Judges seem to have a huge amount of deciding power in this country these days.

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:08 pm
by Doc Sigma
Judges seem to have a huge amount of deciding power in this country these days.
That's because they're... judges.

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:20 pm
by Foxchild
In some countries, if you file a civil suit and lose, you have to pay the other side's legal fees. Shame we don't have that here in the States...
Uh... yeah, that does exist Stateside. The lawsuit has to meet certain requirements, which can include (but are not limited to) clauses included in signed contracts, cases related to negligence, cases filed with intentions of defamation, cases filed that are viewed as unfounded, and perhaps strangest of all: cases where one side pisses the judge off and doesn't have a case.

'Twas something I had to watch out for when I filed suit against a landlord over a year back. There was a clause saying that if I lost the suit, I'd have to pay their lawyers fees. Heck, there was a chance I'd have to pay them if I won, too.

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:37 pm
by Steve the Pocket
Just found out, the judge did rule against Rearson, and made him pay the Chungs' legal fees. Just happened to be on our local news at the moment I walked in the room.

Awesomeness. That judge should put that in her commercial come election season.

"Judith Bartnoff... tough on criminals... tougher on morons."

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:56 pm
by Doc Sigma
There was a clause saying that if I lost the suit, I'd have to pay their lawyers fees. Heck, there was a chance I'd have to pay them if I won, too.
The second part of that is just about the worst thing I've ever heard in my life. :( I hope it all worked out for you!

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:17 pm
by Tom Flapwell
Necromancy supreme! Sorry, but I read that Judge Pearson just requested a new trial. Thankfully, the Court of Appeals rejected it.

This guy needs to learn when to give up.

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 2:03 am
by Segovia
I wonder what would happen if only smart people inhabited this earth...
Chaos. We need rational stupid people to balace out the irrational smart people.

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:32 pm
by Angstwolf
This fills me with rage in a manner similar to that of the story about the man getting trampled to death at Wal-Mart.