Rock, Paper, Scissors

Judge: ‘Rock, paper, scissors’ to decide dispute

If lawyers can't decide where to play, it'll be on courthouse steps

TAMPA, Fla. - A federal judge, miffed at the inability of opposing attorneys to agree on even the slightest details of a lawsuit, ordered them to settle their latest dispute with a game of “rock, paper, scissors.”

The argument was over a location to take the sworn statement of a witness in an insurance lawsuit.

In an order signed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell scolded both sides and ordered them to meet at a neutral location at 4 p.m. June 30 to play a round of the hand-gesture game often used to settle childhood disputes. If they can’t agree on the neutral location, he said, they’ll play on the steps of the federal courthouse.

The winner gets to choose the location for the witness statement.

“We’re going to have to do it,” said David Pettinato, lead attorney for the plaintiff, Avista Management. “I guess I’d better bone up on ‘rock, paper, scissors’ rules.”

Last year, officials of the auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s engaged in the game to decide who would get to sell a $17.8 million collection of art offered by a Japanese electronics company. Christie’s won.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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HAHAHA!

This is why lawyers go to law school? So that they can play "rock, paper, scissors"?

The comment from the lawyer about boning up on the rules of the game makes me laugh! I can just see a lawyer sitting in the law library researching the history and strategy of the game prior to the "big match."

Then I Googled the terms "rock paper scissors rules" and found a ton of sites dedicated to the official rules and strategies of the game!! I am totally amazed by that.

There is even a tournament every year (held in Toronto) known as the Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) World Championships!

The world has gone completely bonkers, and I LOVE it!