A federal magistrate judge in Michigan dismissed a lawsuit featuring an unusual logo – a cartoon dragon dressed in a business suit – calling it “juvenile and impertinent.”
Jacob A. Perrone, a lawyer from East Lansing, Michigan, who recently founded Dragon Lawyers, said he chose the dragon symbol to represent “aggressive representation.” The dragon appears on every page of a lawsuit he filed on behalf of an inmate who accused jail officials in Clinton County, Michigan, of being “deliberately indifferent” to her medical needs. However, Judge Ray Kent was not impressed with the graphic.
In a brief order issued on Monday, Judge Kent noted that “each page of the plaintiff’s complaint appears on an e-filing which is dominated by a large multicolored cartoon dragon dressed in a suit, presumably because she is represented by the law firm of Dragon Lawyers PC.”
“Use of this dragon cartoon logo is not only distracting, it is juvenile and impertinent,” Judge Kent wrote. “The Court is not a cartoon.”
Judge Kent gave the woman, identified only as Jane Doe No.
Dragon graphic called distracting
2, until May 5 to refile her lawsuit “without the cartoon dragon.” He also ordered her not to file “any other documents with the cartoon dragon or other inappropriate content.”
Perrone, the managing member of Dragon Lawyers in East Lansing, Michigan, has always used watermarks, although “probably not as dominantly as that one was.” He bought the dragon logo online for about $20 to help market his firm, which he recently opened. Perrone started using the large watermark about a month ago and didn’t encounter problems in state court. “I want my pleadings to stand out,” he said.
Perrone stated he will comply with the court order. “I regret putting it on the pleadings so prominently displayed,” he said. The incident has sparked some amusement within the legal community and even drew attention on the legal blog The Volokh Conspiracy.
