Judge throws out lawsuit for being too wordy

A federal judge in Tacoma, Wash., has thrown out a 465-page fraud lawsuit against a mortgage company on the grounds that it takes too long to read.

Just the title of the court filing is eight pages long, Judge Ronald Leighton noted. The complaint then takes 18 pages to list the defendants, even though there are only six of them.

This is followed by 87 pages of allegations (“including a 37-page pit stop to quote e-mails”) and a 341-page “odyssey” exploring what the court should do to remedy the alleged fraud. The whole thing could easily have been written in two pages, the judge said.

The judge’s brief order concludes with a poem: “Plaintiff has a great deal to say/[But] his complaint is too long/Which renders it wrong/Please re-write and re-file today.”

Presidio Group, LLC v. GMAC Mortgage, LLC, U.S. Dist. Ct. (W.D. Wash.) No. 08-05298