Profession , editors Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo record the words and actions of attorneys in an attempt to portray the profession through a pastiche of stories and quotes. The following is adapted from the book: After four years of legal manoeuvres, the ownership of a piece of property in Palmdale, California, was finally settled in 1992. Justice was delayed, however, for want of one cent.

Los Angeles Supreme Court officials refused to let the parties share a deposit of $30,832.81, because the amount was not divisible by two. That meant that one party would receive more than the other and the judge's 50/50 ruling would not be obeyed.

Attorneys for both parties volunteered to throw in an extra penny to enable the officials to even things out, but to no avail. After all, if the officers of the Court don't abide by the rules, they argued, why would anyone else? To satisfy the need for a new formal order, new documents had to be drawn up and all parties were summoned to appear at a special early-morning session of the Court, where the matter was resolved.

The total costs of solving the one-cent problem were $1,050.

N.B.

This is the exact same Law Matters supplement that ran in The Royal Gazette on 20th September, 2000. However do the printing problems that affected the quality of the print, it was pulled from the circulation and did not appear again until the 9th October, 2000.