Judge Sam Sparks, known for straight talk, has dismissed Lance Armstrong’s lawsuit against the US Anti-Doping Agency.  Mr. Armstrong filed an 80 page Complaint – versus a typical five page Complaint for a complicated lawsuit.  The judge compared the Complaint to a blog post or a press release.  Judge Sparks wrote that the court was not inclined to indulge in Mr. Armstrong’s desire for publicity, self-aggrandizement, or vilification of defendants by sifting through 80 "mostly unnecessary" pages for the few kernels of factual material relevant to his case.  See ABA Bar Journal report. 

The judge gave the plaintiff 20 days to re-file its complaint.  Mr. Armstrong’s lawyer indicated that he listened to Judge Saprks’ opinion and would comply.  What no one discusses is that Mr. Armstrong has already started wrong in his lawsuit and will have to overcome Judge Saprks’ skepticism regarding his new Complaint.  Once a party or a lawyer lose their credibility with a judge, it can be hard to regain.  It is very unlikely that any party needs 80 pages to describe his/her lawsuit.  My guess is that the law firm indulged Lance Armstrong’s desire to make public his feelings – which is not a good start to any lawsuit.