--- title: Game of Thrones: Lawyer Demands Real-Life Trial by Combat description: He says there's no law specifically outlawing the practice that saved the lives of both The Hound and Tyrion Lannister. canonical: https://time.com/3989243/game-of-thrones-lawyer-trial-by-combat/ author: Eric Dodds article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-07T18:56:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:02.429Z og:title: 'Game of Thrones' Inspires Lawyer to Demand Trial by Combat og:description: He says there's no law specifically outlawing it. og:url: https://time.com/3989243/game-of-thrones-lawyer-trial-by-combat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78a0e0ab5e415db2/69885e69a988cab6446b3cf4/themountain-oberyn-gameofthrones14_119.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: The Mountain Fights Oberyn in Season 4 Episode 8 of Game of Thrones og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Game of Thrones' Inspires Lawyer to Demand Trial by Combat twitter:description: He says there's no law specifically outlawing it. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78a0e0ab5e415db2/69885e69a988cab6446b3cf4/themountain-oberyn-gameofthrones14_119.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Game of Thrones_ Inspires New York Lawyer to Demand Trial by Combat > Sponsored content. 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HBO's programming president has said he wants "Game of Thrones" to run for eight seasons and says a prequel series is possible._ by [Eric Dodds](https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Aug 7, 2015 6:56 PM UTC  Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and Pedro Pascal fight as The Mountain and Oberyn in Season 4 Episode 8 of Game of Thrones. Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and Pedro Pascal fight as The Mountain and Oberyn in Season 4 Episode 8 of Game of Thrones. HBO by [Eric Dodds](https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Aug 7, 2015 6:56 PM UTC Some people love _Game of Thrones_ and some people _really_ love _Game of Thrones_. A member of the latter group has taken it upon himself to act out one of Westeros’ most absurd and notorious practices: trial by combat. Richard Luthmann, a Staten Island attorney, is [demanding](http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2015/08/real-life%5Fgame%5Fof%5Fthrones%5Flayw.html) that one of the plaintiffs (or their “champion”) in the suit against him face him in a literal battle to the death unless the case is dismissed. He claims that the practice has not been outlawed in the U.S. or New York state and is suggesting it to point out the absurdity of the plaintiffs’ allegations. “They want to be absurd about what they’re trying to do, then I’ll give them back ridiculousness in kind,” said Luthmann, who shockingly confesses to being a _Game of Thrones_ fan. Luthmann’s bold challenge is in keeping with his history of full-throated public declarations and proclivity for wearing flashy suits and bowties. Even so, he may not have thought this one through. On _Game of Thrones_, trial by combat is typically only requested when the accused has little chance of escaping with his life any other way. This is decidedly not the case for Luthmann, who is accused of helping a client commit fraud, unless he values the $500,000 his client stands to lose more than his own life. Luthmann has not divulged whether he would serve as his own champion or select a surrogate, though both parties would be wise to seek the services of Hafþór Julius Bjornsson, who plays The Mountain on _Thrones_ and recently retained his title as Europe’s Strongest Man. \[[_Staten Island Live_](http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2015/08/real-life%5Fgame%5Fof%5Fthrones%5Flayw.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3989243/game-of-thrones-lawyer-trial-by-combat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3989243/game-of-thrones-lawyer-trial-by-combat/"},"headline":"Game of Thrones Inspires New York Lawyer to Demand Trial by Combat","datePublished":"2015-08-07T18:56:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:03:02.429Z","description":"He says there's no law specifically outlawing it","url":"https://time.com/3989243/game-of-thrones-lawyer-trial-by-combat/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","game of thrones","Bizarre"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78a0e0ab5e415db2/69885e69a988cab6446b3cf4/themountain-oberyn-gameofthrones14_119.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Dodds","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78a0e0ab5e415db2/69885e69a988cab6446b3cf4/themountain-oberyn-gameofthrones14_119.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Mountain Fights Oberyn in Season 4 Episode 8 of Game of Thrones","caption":"The Mountain Fights Oberyn in Season 4 Episode 8 of Game of Thrones","creditText":"HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3989243/game-of-thrones-lawyer-trial-by-combat/","name":"Game of Thrones Inspires New York Lawyer to Demand Trial by Combat"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"HBO Wants All The 'Game Of Thrones' It Can Get","description":"HBO's programming president has said he wants \"Game of Thrones\" to run for eight seasons and says a prequel series is possible.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hrWbneDg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-31T16:50:08.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hrWbneDg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3989243/game-of-thrones-lawyer-trial-by-combat/","duration":"PT1M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3989243/game-of-thrones-lawyer-trial-by-combat/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```