Wow, I thought this kind of thing was done away with years ago

[Jester]

From the reading of those rules, it seems that escalation within the law is very possible.

How would that square with 35.c, that you decline further conflict or retreat from it as far as is feasible before the necessity of self-preservation occurs? If you escalate a conflict, you're moving yourself towards, not away from, the risk of bodily harm.

Thread crossover? Will this lead to thread macramé? I hope not -- I can't even keep up when things stay on topic:)

Yeah, that was me forgetting which thread we were off on this tangent in. Still, I see them as related.

Kidding aside, it seems that there is enough leeway that a jury could easily vote the charisma of the attorneys.

I agree. But a charismatic attorney can, at least occasionally, argue his way out of the laws of physics, at least as far as a jury is concerned. This is not a problem with laws, but with juries.

-Jester