Ridiculous Suit About a Suit

The conventional wisdom regarding vexatious litigation is that clients often resort to suing needlessly or perhaps making outrageous demands that foreclose the possibility of commercial settlement. This blogger has stated in an earlier post about the rising tendency for residents of the UK to become "litigation junkies" more recently.

I have had to rethink the view that most vexatious litigants are not only ignorant of the law but are often driven by the need to be vindictive. The New York Times reports this story about Roy L. Pearson junior who has sued a couple running a dry cleaning service for purportedly misplacing a pair of pants. The ridiculous part of the suit is not only that the costs of the suit have gone above the replacement costs of the pant, but that the plaintiff initially filed for US$ 67.3 million.

As the piece reports, the plaintiff is a judge and has been a legal aid lawyer. Absent a new revelation to this case, I am led to ask whether this is a really judicious judge as he declined to accept settlement for US$ 12,000 offered in March this year. Granted that the plaintiff later adjusted his claim to US$ 54 million, I think that the substance of this case is such that it is a mockery of the judicial process perpetrated by an officer of that court. Get a fresh pair of pants your honor and get back to work.