This Lawsuit Destroyed Him // The Roy Pearson Lawsuit Scandal

In 2005, Washington, D.C. administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson Jr. dropped off a pair of suit trousers for alteration at Custom Cleaners, a small neighborhood business owned by South Korean immigrants Soo and Jin Chung. [1, 2]When the cleaners misplaced the pants—and later presented a pair that Pearson vehemently insisted was not his—the dispute rapidly escalated into a notorious symbol of frivolous litigation. Acting as his own attorney, Pearson filed a massive civil lawsuit under D.C. consumer protection laws, pointing to the storefront's "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and "Same Day Service" signs to demand a staggering $54 million