A federal judge in the US has introduced a radical new option when it comes to alternative dispute resolution - forcing warring lawyers to settle an argument with a game of 'rock, paper, scissors'. It was reported last week that Judge Gregory Presnell, fed up with the intractability of both sides in an insurance case, ordered that they meet at a neutral location at the end of this month to play a round of the game to decide where the sworn statement of a witness in the case should be taken. The winner gets to choose. And if they cannot decide on a neutral location, it will be on the steps of the federal courthouse in Tampa, Florida. One can only imagine how many billable hours the lawyers will rack up in considering their strategy - and a game of strategy it is, to judge by the Web site of the World RPS Society, the worldwide governing body of the, erm, sport, as they call it. There is, of course, an RPS world championship, but the most interesting fact to come out of Obiter's in-depth research on the subject is that martial arts apparently developed as players, upset at the outcome of their RPS matches, chose violent action with their fists. That is why, we are told, the game is often referred to as the father of all martial arts.