Our long, international nightmare is (nearly) over. The US justice system works. Judge Judith Bartnoff found today that Roy L. Pearson is not entitled to any of the damages he sought against a hard-working Korean family operating Custom Cleaners, a small dry-cleaning outfit in Washington, DC.
   Essentially, Judge Bartnoff, even applying a lower evidentiary standard, could not find that Judge Pearson had discharged the burden of proof and that consumer law, as I noted, is to be interpreted in the eyes of the reasonable consumer.
   She has not yet worked out the defendants’ claim about Pearson’s mala fides and vexatious litigation, but the Chungs were awarded judgement and costs.
   The Washington Post has a copy of the PDF judgement here. I don’t think you need to be a lawyer or law student to read this judgement: it’s clear-cut and the case is, despite Judge Pearson’s claims, really simple. It also outlines all the facts, including what the media rightly had to miss in order to make the story easier to follow.
   Consumer law classes will be interesting next semester.
   But, more importantly, Judge Bartnoff has shown the world that the American stereotype of the litigious society does not really work in real life, something that Judge Pearson appears disconnected from. She may well have discouraged similar cases and has done the right thing not just as an officer of the court, but as an American. Posted by Jack Yan, 22:27  permalink

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