Rock paper scissors

After three months, the writers’ strike at last looks close to settlement. But I wonder whether, instead of the long hours of hard bargaining, the suffering—both emotional and physical—resulting from work stoppages, lost income and picket-sign fatigue, the two sides might have adopted a simpler, less painful form of dispute resolution.

In 2006, a federal judge in Florida, weary of the parties’ long-winded debates over seemingly trivial points, fashioned “a new form of alternative dispute resolution” to determine the location of a deposition:

At 4:00 P.M. on Friday, June 30, 2006, counsel shall convene at a neutral site agreeable to both parties. If counsel cannot agree on a neutral site, they shall meet on the front steps of the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse. … Each lawyer shall be entitled to be accompanied by one paralegal who shall act as an attendant and witness. At that time and location, counsel shall engage in one (1) game of "rock, paper, scissors." 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 that longstanding method seems a little arbitrary, how about a more hands-on childhood favorite? Can you picture the grudge match between controversial filmmaker and corporate gadfly Michael Moore and Nick Counter, the ever-popular president of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers?

- posted by vera

(w/thanks to my bro for the rps & grudge match tips)