The civil trial for D.C. administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson’s lawsuit against local dry cleaning business Custom Cleaners, in which he’s now asking for $54 million — as opposed to the original $67 million suit he filed in April — is underway right now at the at D.C. Superior Court. WTOP’s Neal Augenstein reports that the courtroom is currently standing-room only.

Pearson’s original suit sought damages for the loss of his pants, as well as claiming the city’s consumer protection laws were violated. He later modified his complaint to focus on the consumer protection aspect, focusing on the “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Same Day Service” promises made by signs hung up inside the shop. A lawyer for the Chung family, which owns Custom Cleaners in Northeast D.C., says no reasonable person would interpret the signs as an unconditional promise of satisfaction. Pearson is representing himself in the case. Just in from WTOP:

In the opening statement of his civil trial, Roy Pearson told the judge, in an overpacked courtroom, that his claim focuses on three misleading signs posted in the store that guaranteed customer satisfaction.

The attorney for the family that owns the dry cleaner says Pearson filed the suit because he was recently divorced and had significant financial hardship. The lawyer for the Chung family calls Pearson’s claim, in his words, “patently unreasonable and honestly ridiculous.”

UPDATE: The Post’s Emil Steiner is also live-blogging the trial.

Throughout the opening statements, the judge had a subtle smile. I took it to mean that he was well aware of the ridiculousness of the proceedings, but he was willing to hear this case out, either because it was the the fair thing to do or because it would be fairly entertaining. Or perhaps both.

Photo by Ryan Orr