Last year, at the University of Michigan, when law professor Don Herzog asked his students a question, there was a five-second pause followed by blank stares. Knowing that something was amiss, Herzog decided to investigate the matter on his own.

Sitting in on his colleagues' classes, the professor was astounded by what he discovered. "At any given moment in a law school class, literally 85 to 90 percent of the students were online, Herzog said. "And what were they doing online? They were reading the New York Times; they were shopping for clothes at Eddie Bauer; they were looking for an apartment to rent in San Francisco when their new job started…and I was stunned," reported Herzog.
....
As students and professors are at a technological standoff, the students are whipping out their digital weapons, while professors confidently encourage them: Go ahead, make my day. 

From the Florida Bar News, July 1, 2006:

Dutifully following a playful, but pointed, federal court order, Tampa lawyers David Pettinato, of the Merlin Law Group, and D. Lee Craig, of Butler Pappas, will meet June 20 and engage in one game of “rock, paper, scissors” to solve a dispute in the midst of heated litigation.

“We will do it quickly, humbly, and go on about our business,” said a contrite Pettinato, who is amazed about “getting bombarded from news media from all over the country.” CNN, ABC, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, to name a few.

Make that international news, as London’s The Guardian also did its version of the everybody’s-talking-about-it June 6 order issued by U.S. Middle District Judge Gregory Presnell, who was a member of The Florida Bar Board of Governors from 1989-93.

At issue was the childlike squabbling between the attorneys in Avista Management, Inc., vs. Wausau Underwriters Insurance Co. (case no. 6:05-cv-1430-Orl-31JGG), in litigation over an insurance settlement stemming from 2004’s Hurricane Charley.

Even though the sparring lawyers’ offices are only four floors apart in the same building at 777 S. Harbor Island Blvd. in Tampa, they could not agree on where to hold a deposition. Craig, representing Wausau, wanted to question a witness in his office. Pettinato, representing Avista, was not willing to let Craig have the home-court advantage, and insisted on a neutral setting of a court reporter’s office down the street.

When they took the matter to the court, Presnell let them have it, fed up with “the latest series of Gordian knots that the parties have been unable to untangle without enlisting the assistance of the federal courts.”

In what the judge called “a new form of alternative dispute resolution,” Presnell ordered that each attorney will be “accompanied by one paralegal who shall act as an attendant and witness,” and “the winner of this engagement shall be entitled to select the location for the 30(b)(6) deposition to be held somewhere in Hillsborough County during the period July 11-12, 2006. If either party disputes the outcome of this engagement, an appeal may be filed and a hearing will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, July 7, before the undersigned in Courtroom 3.” That creative order compelled St. Petersburg Times columnist Sue Carlton to nominate Presnell for “Jurist of the Year.”

No Need for an Appeal
On June 8, Pettinato said that he and Craig have resolved the issue. Pettinato said both sides agreed to play rock, paper, scissors, at “an undisclosed location.” Whoever wins will get to hold the deposition in his office.

“We want to do it out of respect for the judge’s order,” said Pettinato, who added, “I have to say I am a little disappointed that we couldn’t resolve our differences without this court order. But it provided us with an eye-opener to resolve our differences in a more amicable way. Since the hurricanes, we have been having huge battles trying to get insurance companies to pay. . . .If you get a little too passionate advocating for your client, it helps to rethink your strategy.”

The matter has been zinging across the state, around the country, and across the ocean, on news Web sites, lawyers’ e-mails, and law blogs.

Orlando lawyer Lynn James Hinson, who called Presnell an excellent lawyer and judge, posted this comment on The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog: “Many lawyers act like they are in kindergarten, and this order treats them appropriately.”

Craig, who did not return the News’ request for an interview, may be at a disadvantage. Pettinato has a kindergartner in the house, as the father of a 5-year-old and 9-year-old. “I play it all the time with them. I can’t say I’m an expert, but I know the rules,” Pettinato said. “Now, my 5-year-old keeps throwing her hand out, saying, ‘Dad, let’s practice.’”

Pettinato said his kids have advised him to open with rock, which he thought was apropos “because my case is solid as a rock.”

But Matti Leshem, co-commissioner of the USA Rock Paper Scissors League, told The New York Times, “I guarantee you right now that both lawyers will open with paper. Lawyers open with paper 67 percent of the time, because they deal with so much paper.”

Leshem agreed to officiate, saying, “What I don’t want is some rogue element of rock-paper-scissors coming down from the bench. When the law takes rock-paper-scissors into its own hands, mayhem can occur.”

While Pettinato said he has greatest respect for the judge and “got the message,” he is willing to laugh at himself, “or else I’ll grow despondent.”

Taking it somewhat seriously is the World Rock Paper Scissors Society. “This is a landmark case of how RPS should be used to keep the wheels of justice moving forward when dealing with lawyer engaging in posturing tactics,” Doug Walker, managing director of the World RPS Society, told the News.

“Although we take issue with RPS being labeled as a ‘new’ form of dispute resolution, we understand it is not commonly used in courtrooms and applaud Judge Presnell’s wisdom in the matter.”

Noting that Rock, Paper, Scissors dates back to at least the 18th century in Japan, it was used to settle an auction-house dispute in April when “an $18 million art portfolio was acquired by Christie’s due to a cleverly executed throw of paper,” over Sotheby’s rock.

The World Rock Paper Scissors Society, Walker said, plans to invite Judge Presnell to attend the International Rock Paper Scissors Championships in Toronto on September 30, as “chief consultant to Head Referee Brad Fox.” No word yet on whether the judge will accept the invitation.

ERIN BROCKOVICH
Monday, February 27, 2006
7:30 p.m. in the UNF Arena
AN EVENING WITH ERIN BROCKOVICH

Erin Brockovich launched her career as an environmental activist in 1991, when she started working for the law firm of Masry and Vititoe as a file clerk, stumbling upon some medical records on a pro bono real estate case that piqued her curiosity.

Brockovich established that the health of countless people who lived in and around Hinkley, California, in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s had been devastated by exposure to toxic Chromium 6, which had leaked into the groundwater from the nearby Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Compressor Station.

In 1996, as a result of the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind, spearheaded by Brockovich and Ed Masry, the giant utility was ordered to make the biggest legal settlement in U.S. history, paying out some $333 million in damages to more than 600 Hinkley residents.

The story of Brockovich’s investigation and legal triumph were dramatized in the hit movie “Erin Brockovich,” released in March 2000, starring Julia Roberts. Today she is the director of environmental research at Masry and Vititoe and is currently involved in other major environmental lawsuits.

"A Trust With Pros and Cons
With homes appreciating in value, many older people may have to worry about their heirs facing estate taxes. The solution could be transferring the home to their children via a Qualified Personal Residence Trust. Following are a few pros and cons:

Pros
¶It removes the appreciated value of a house from a parent's estate for significant estate tax savings.
¶Parent continues to live in the house during the term of the trust.
¶Residences and vacation homes qualify, and a person can protect two homes, sometimes a third.
¶Paying rent to children is yet another way to transfer wealth to them.

Cons
¶The cost basis of the house remains the same as it was for the parents, which means higher capital gains tax when it is sold.
¶If the parent dies before the term of the trust ends, the children inherit the house at its current value. ¶Children become their parents' landlord when the trust expires, and children could evict the parents or raise the rent.
¶Setting up such a trust is complicated; you'll need a lawyer."

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said that there may be enough votes to sustain a filibuster against Judge Samuel Alito.

"It's a matter of counting. We have 45 Democrats, counting [Vermont independent] Jim Jeffords, on our side. We could sustain a filibuster if 41 senators ... are willing to stand and fight."