I witnessed this across the aisle from me on a flight last week. The gentleman with the laptop reached up and violently shook the offending person's seatback until they moved their seatback up. Nothing was ever said, and that was the end of the issue. I thought it was a strange way to handle things.

Anyway, when I recline in a mad dog, I always do it s-l-o-w-l-y since there really isn't much room with the seats reclined all the way...