"The allegations made by plaintiffs, aided and abetted by their counsel, border upon the criminal. As such, the undersigned respectfully requests that the court permit the undersigned to dispatch plaintiffs and their counsel to the Divine Providence of the Maker for Him to exact His divine judgment once the undersigned has released the souls of the plaintiffs and their counsel from their corporeal bodies, personally and or by way of a champion."
-Attorney Richard A. Luthmann, 2015
From Staten Island Live:
A Staten Island lawyer with a penchant for bowties and closely-cut beards is apparently channeling his inner "Games of Thrones" by asking a judge to sanction a trial by combat to resolve a civil suit in which he's accused of helping a client commit fraud.
...
Luthmann said he seeks trial by combat – a fight to the death by the disputants or their stand-ins – in the event the case against him is not dismissed.
Trial by combat, Luthmann contends, was never outlawed in the United States or in New York state.
As we previously noted on this topic:
The last recorded trial by combat in English law took place in the 16th century. However, despite numerous proposals in Parliament to abolish the wager of battle during the 17th and 18th centuries, the practice remained on the books. It was successfully invoked by a defendant in an appeal of murder (a type of criminal prosecution for homicide conducted by a private party rather than the Crown) in 1818, in the case of Ashford v. Thornton.[5] When the prosecuting party failed to participate in the duel, the defendant was acquitted and set free. The following year, Parliament banned the wager of battle.[6]
However, the Thirteen Colonies adopted the entirety of English common law upon independence in 1776 (except where that law was subsequently modified by state or federal statute). Accordingly, it is an open question whether or not trial by combat is a valid form of dispute resolution under American law in states where it has not been expressly abolished by statute.