Pants Lawsuit Fundraiser Held

 

The U.S. Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) and the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) hosted a fundraiser for a mom-and-pop dry cleaner engulfed in a two-year fight against a $54 million lawsuit over a missing pair of pants. The event raised more than $70,000 to cover the legal costs of the targeted business owners and helped underscore the need for commonsense legal reform.

 

The defendants, Jin and Soo Chung of Custom Cleaners in Washington, D.C., were applauded for their perseverance and drive for business success. "The Chamber's motto is the spirit of free enterprise," said ILR President Lisa Rickard. "The Chungs epitomize that motto. They had been living the American dream, and it all came to a halt with the filing of this lawsuit."

 

The Chungs and their attorney, Chris Manning of Manning & Sossamon, spoke to an audience of more than 200 supporters. Manning said that the lawsuit forced the Chungs to close one of their store locations and almost bankrupted their business. He added that the lawsuit offers a lesson for all small business owners. "It's imperative that small businesses remain resolute. Don't capitulate to the Roy Pearsons of the world," referring to the customer who brought the case against the Chungs. "The United States doesn't stand for frivolous litigation."

 

The fundraiser, which received significant media coverage, also highlighted the importance of ILR's ongoing legal reform agenda and spotlighted the threat that frivolous lawsuits pose to all small business owners.

 

A recent survey sponsored by ILR and conducted by Harris Poll Interactive shows that more than 75% of small business owners are concerned about lawsuits, and, according to Rickard, fear of litigation contributes to their decisions about whether to raise prices on goods and services, limit capital investments, and cut back on hiring or employee benefits. 

 

Through voter education efforts, public education campaigns, and grassroots activities, ILR is working to raise awareness about lawsuit abuse and civil justice reform on both the state and federal levels. ILR's state efforts include pushing for tort reform in California, Illinois, and West Virginia.

 

On the federal level, ILR has called on Congress to pass legislation to limit punitive damages in liability cases against small businesses and to protect innocent product sellers from liability when the manufacturer is directly responsible for harm. ILR is also continuing to repel efforts by trial lawyers to push liability-expanding legislation at the state and federal levels, remove arbitration clauses in contracts, and force more people into court, thereby expanding the overall number of lawsuits. For more information, please go to www.instituteforlegalreform.com/.