While meeting in Chicago at their annual convention this week, the nation’s personal injury lawyers – once known collectively as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and now going by the focus group-tested American Association for Justice – will go out of their way to convince one another and anyone else who’ll listen that they stick up for the little guy and small businesses.

Of course, that will come as news to Soo and Jin Chung, the owners of a family operated dry cleaners in Washington, D.C.  If you read my June 21 blog entry, “Perverting Consumer Protection,” you know the Chungs were infamously sued by Roy L. Pearson, an administrative law judge and former plaintiff’s lawyer, for tens of millions of dollars because they temporarily misplaced a pair of his pants while also displaying a “Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign above the cash register.

Since then, there’s been a bit of good news: After a two-day trial, D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff on June 25 ruled in favor of the Chungs, dismissing Pearson’s suit and his interpretation of D.C.’s consumer protection law as wholly “unreasonable.” 

The bad news is that Pearson, who’s up for reappointment to his $100,000-a-year job with the city, doesn’t know when to quit.  (Let D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty know what you think about Pearson’s possible reappointment with an email to afenty@dc.gov.)  Pearson filed a motion for reconsideration on July 10, asserting that Bartnoff’s original ruling was "manifestly in error" and that she should effectively overrule herself.

This past week she responded by again swatting Pearson down, rejecting his motion out of hand.  But his motion was seen by many observers as merely a strategic prelude to a full-blown appeal, which he’s expected to file with the D.C. Court of Appeals any day now.  If Pearson is a real-life Ahab, this perverted “pantsuit” has become his white whale.   

All the while, legal bills and business losses continue to pile up for the hardworking Chungs.  Though they had cheerfully pursued their own American Dream since immigrating from Korea 14 years ago, they’ve now been forced to suffer a costly two-year litigation nightmare at the hands of a greedy and seemingly vindictive lawyer who apparently wants to get rich off the sweat and labor of another.

While most good Americans appreciate the considerable contributions that small business owners like the Chungs make to our bustling national economy and can hope that D.C.’s appeals court will shut down Pearson’s absurdly frivolous lawsuit once and for all, there’s no guarantee.

Accordingly, my organization, the American Tort Reform Association, has teamed up with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform to co-host a July 24 fundraiser that will help defray some of the Chungs' business losses and legal expenses.  A recent media advisory offers basic information about the fundraiser, and a trip to www.chungfundraiser.com can provide details about sponsorship opportunities and easy online registration.  Even if you can’t make it to Washington for the July 24 event, you can still support the Chungs and make a contribution.

And not that it will surprise you, but we reached out to many of the trial lawyers gathered in Chicago this week for help with our fundraiser and they turned us down.  Apparently, claiming that you stick up for the little guy is a lot easier than actually doing so.