Why lawyers are despised, part 2,705,803

Roy Pearson is an administrative law judge in Washington DC. He is also venal -- for the past two years he has used torture by lawsuit to punish a family of Korean immigrants who own the dry cleaning store that allegedly lost a pair of his trousers in 2005. In the lawsuit, Pearson seeks $67,000,000 in damages for a $10 dry cleaning bill and an $800 pair of slacks. The dry cleaners have sought REPEATEDLY to settle, with offers of $3,000; $4,600; and $12,000 -- a windfall by any measure compared to the loss of the pants.

For some reason, this case was not thrown out nor were the plaintiff's damages limited by the trial judge. Here's how this thing metastasized:

[Pearson] went to the lawbooks. Citing the District of Columbia's consumer protection laws, he claims he is entitled to $1,500 per violation.

Per day.

What follows is the beginning of thousands of pages of legal documents and correspondence that, two years later, have led to a massive civil lawsuit in the amount of $67 million.

According to court papers, here's how Pearson calculates the damages and legal fees:

He believes he is entitled to $1,500 for each violation, each day during which the "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign and another sign promising "Same Day Service" was up in the store -- more than 1,200 days.

And he's multiplying each violation by three because he's suing Jin and Soo Chung and their son.

He also wants $500,000 in emotional damages and $542, 500 in legal fees, even though he is representing himself in court.

He wants $15,000 for 10 years' worth of weekend car rentals as well.

Absolutely disgraceful.