Well, it's nice to know that the legal system isn't totally dysfunctional. Judge Roy Pearson, who sued his dry cleaner for more than $60 million, lost his case. And it only took D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ten days of agonizing deliberation to finally rule in favor of the defendants, Custom Cleaners and its owners, the Chung family.
Marc Fisher at WaPo called Judge Bartnoff's 23-page decision "extremely cautious and detailed" and noted that:
… the judge found that there is "nothing in the law" to support the foundation of Pearson's case, the notion that a sign saying "Satisfaction Guaranteed" is an absolute, unconditional guarantee that the merchant will do anything and everything a customer demands to create satisfaction. To the contrary, Bartnoff said, the law is clear that any claim of an unfair trade practice is limited to what a reasonable person would expect.
Gee, and just when I was beginning to despair that the "reasonable person" rule had become totally passé.
But it's too soon to celebrate the return of sanity to our courts — if you doubt me, just spend a few minutes reading some of the recent posts at Overlawyered.
