Washington DC cocktail parties are usually held to swell the coffers of this or that political personality. But here's a worthier cause, worthy of mentioning. The US Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform and the American Tort Reform Association are jointly hosting a fund raiser later this month to support the Chung family, victims of outrageous lawsuit abuse.
The Chungs, OBW readers recall (here and here), are the small business owners in Washington DC whose dry cleaning business was sued for $54 million dollars by a customer (who happened to be a judge) over a misplaced pair of pants. The cleaners found the pants a few days later and offered to return them to the judge, but he refused. Rather, he tried to take the cleaners to the cleaners, alleging the ludicrous sum of $54 million+ in damages on the basis that signs in the cleaners' window deceptively warrantied "satisfaction guaranteed" and "same day service."
The DC court rightly tossed the lawsuit a few weeks ago. But not before the Chungs endured the hidden and not-so-hidden costs of being targeted by a lawsuit. Tens of thousands of dollars in defense costs and the difficult emotional and physical turmoil of such a stressful circumstance. Good for the US Chamber and ATRA for sticking up for the human face of lawsuit abuse.
