What Lawyers Can Learn from Poker Players

The better analogy and, more importantly, the better place to turn for useful practice pointers, is poker. In poker, each player starts with the cards as they are dealt; a hand may be good or bad, depending on the luck of the draw. Likewise, in litigation, the lawyer is presented with his client's case, whatever its strengths or weaknesses may be. Almost by definition, the two sides in litigation will not be equally matched at the outset as occurs in chess. In poker, each player's knowledge is limited; she can see her cards, and any common cards, but not the cards of her opponent. So, too, in litigation, the lawyer's knowledge is limited to what he can learn from his client or through discovery; he does not know privileged information known only to his adversary. As a result, lawyers, like poker players, in order to win, must constantly make the best decisions they can base on imperfect information.

So what do winning poker players know that you don't? (Notice I said “winning poker players” — that is because there are “winning poker players” just like there are winning lawyers, and it is not because they are always dealt better cards or superior cases; it is because they are better at what they do.)