Judge Roy “Fancy Pants” Pearson, who sued a DC-area dry cleaner for $54 million dollars after they botched a $10.50 alteration, may well find that his job is on the line, according to the Washington Post.

City sources said a marathon meeting of the Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges ended late Monday with agreement to meet again next week to finalize wording of a letter explaining the panel’s doubts about granting Pearson a 10-year term on the bench. Pearson’s initial term expired at the end of April, at the height of his legal battle against the Chung family, owners of Custom Cleaners on Bladensburg Road NE.

The panel’s discussion about Pearson’s future has focused on what role a judge’s behavior outside the courtroom should play in assessing his qualifications. Was Pearson’s extraordinary zeal in pursuing the case against the Chungs so embarrassing that it amounts to evidence of poor judicial temperament?

The post points out that with Pearson out of a job, the Chungs might have difficulty recovering money for legal fees they’ve been awarded by the court.

Commission Weighs Future of Litigious Judge [Washington Post] (Thanks, Garry!)
(Photo:Jacquelyn Martin — Associated Press)

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