The Legal Reader

D.C. administrative law judge Roy Pearson Jr. won't give up after losing his $54 million lawsuit against a local dry cleaner over a missing pair of pants.

Pearson filed an appeal Tuesday with the D.C. Court of Appeals, although the Chung family on Monday withdrew its motion seeking to compel Pearson to pay more than $82,000 in attorney fees. The Chungs have raised close to $100,000 through fundraisers and donations to help cover their legal fees and business losses after international media attention focusing on the case.

Pearson is soldiering on after losing a two-day bench trial in June where he wept over his missing pants, which he'd had altered because he gained weight while he was unemployed before becoming an administrative law judge in 2005.

Chris Manning, the Chungs' attorney, released a statement Tuesday: "The Chungs have done everything possible to put this nightmare behind them and return to their normal lives. They have won resoundingly at trial, raised donations from gracious private donors to pay for their litigation costs, let Mr. Pearson off the hook for personally paying their expenses and extended an olive branch to Mr. Pearson in hopes that he would end this matter and not appeal."

Details here from Legal Times via Law.com.