# Whatever happened to the "Pants Judge" Roy L Pearson after he lost his lawsuit & then his job? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968 "2014-07-13T02:50:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968/1 "2014-07-13T02:50:30Z")
[Wiki is here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_v._Chung). He seems to have practically disappeared from the face of the earth after he lost his last legal challenge. In googling can’t find any significant mention of him at all after he lost his last appeal in 2009 to date even as a practicing lawyer. > [@](#): > > Pearson v. Chung, better known as the “pants lawsuit”,[1] is a civil case filed in 2005 by Roy L. Pearson, Jr., an administrative law judge in the District of Columbia in the United States, following a dispute with a dry cleaning company over a lost pair of trousers. Pearson filed suit against Soo Chung, Jin Nam Chung and Ki Y. Chung, the owners of Custom Cleaners in Washington, D.C., initially demanding $67 million for inconvenience, mental anguish and attorney’s fees for representing himself, as a result of their failure, in Pearson’s opinion, to live up to a “satisfaction guaranteed” sign that was displayed in the store. The case drew international attention[2][3] when it went to trial in 2007 and has been held up as an example of frivolous litigation and the need for tort reform in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968/2 "2014-07-13T04:06:57Z")
Google cites about him dry up around 2010. While his judgeship was not renewed in DC and his clown shoes (or in this case, clown pants) history will likely prevent him from sitting on a judicial bench anywhere ever again, presumably he still has his law license and can (and likely did) return to private practice. He had been a Legal Aid attorney in DC before his probationary appointment as an administrative judge. [This 2013 piece](http://thejacksonpress.org/?p=12050), the most recent I could find, advocated that he should lose his license to practice law, implying that he still has it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968/3 "2014-07-13T06:07:30Z")
And whatever happened to the Koreans who ran that laundry? I remember reading that their legal expenses resulting from this case were astronomical, and some articles mentioned that they were extremely bitter against the whole American judicial system over it. Were they going to shut down their business? Were they going to say Fuck America and go back to Korea? Were they going to end up bankrupt and homeless and living in the gutter? Did any of those things ever happen? IIRC there was some on-line fund-raising movement to help pay their legal expenses. Did that come to pass? Did it do any good? Did Judge Pants-Man have to pay any or all of their expenses? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968/4 "2014-07-13T08:37:28Z")
That case doesn’t even feature in the “Top Ten Frivolous Lawsuits” [Legal Help Articles | LegalZoom](https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/top-ten-frivolous-lawsuits) My favourite in their list was this: _In 1991, Richard Harris sued Anheiser-Busch for $10,000 for false advertising. Harris claimed to suffer from emotional distress in addition to mental and physical injury. Why? Because when he drank beer, he didn’t have any luck with the ladies, as promised in the TV ads. Harris also didn’t like that he got sick sometimes after he drank. The case was thrown out of court._ I he had won - it might have stopped those annoying deodorant ads that assure us that all you need to be mobbed by beautiful young ladies is XYZ deodorant. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968/5 "2014-07-13T12:08:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And whatever happened to the Koreans who ran that laundry? I remember reading that their legal expenses resulting from this case were astronomical They received charity assistance - pretty much the total of their legal costs. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968/6 "2014-07-13T12:26:35Z")
[dcbar.org](http://dcbar.org) says you can email Roy, Membership Status: Active Disciplinary history: No ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968/7 "2014-07-14T02:25:34Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > That case doesn’t even feature in the “Top Ten Frivolous Lawsuits” [Corporate Lawsuits | LegalZoom](https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/top-ten-frivolous-lawsuits) > > My favourite in their list was this: > > _In 1991, Richard Harris sued Anheiser-Busch for $10,000 for false advertising. Harris claimed to suffer from emotional distress in addition to mental and physical injury. Why? Because when he drank beer, he didn’t have any luck with the ladies, as promised in the TV ads. Harris also didn’t like that he got sick sometimes after he drank._ Also, someone left his cake out in the rain. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968/8 "2014-07-14T13:15:34Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > That case doesn’t even feature in the “Top Ten Frivolous Lawsuits” [Corporate Lawsuits | LegalZoom](https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/top-ten-frivolous-lawsuits) I’d let in in to replace the McDonald’s coffee suit. The coffee thing is an easy signal that says the list lacks credibility and was put together by a Fox News-watching intern looking for lulz. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-pants-judge-roy-l-pearson-after-he-lost-his-lawsuit-then-his-job/692968/9 "2014-07-15T04:14:43Z")
Reading the title, I thought this was going to be about the judge that dropped his pants and was using an electrical device under his robes to ‘stimulate’ himself while on the bench during a case.