Why read a general, a diplomat and a Jesuit
The legal profession is changing faster than at any other moment in its history. Artificial intelligence drafts pleadings and researches case law in seconds; binding precedents make the outcome of thousands of cases predictable; mediation and arbitration compete with the courts. In this landscape, a lawyer's value shifts from technical execution to something machines still do not do well: strategy, judgment and relationships.
To think about these three skills, few texts are as useful as three classics that were not written for lawyers. The Art of War, attributed to the Chinese general Sun Tzu, deals with how to win conflicts. The Prince, by the Florentine diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli, deals with how to gain and keep power. The Art of Worldly Wisdom, by the Spanish Jesuit Baltasar Gracián, deals with how to act prudently among people and institutions.
A lawyer is, at the same time, a strategist of conflicts, an adviser to those who hold or contest power, and a professional who depends on their own reputation. The three books speak directly to the lawyer — provided they are read through the ethical filters the profession requires.
1. Sun Tzu, The Art of War: the best victory is the one that avoids battle
Written in China between the fifth and fourth centuries BC, the treatise gathers thirteen chapters on planning, terrain, maneuver and intelligence. Its most famous idea is also the most counterintuitive: supreme excellence lies not in winning a hundred battles, but in subduing the enemy without fighting.
Winning without fighting: settlement as victory. For lawyers, the lesson is direct. Litigation is the most expensive, slowest and most uncertain way to resolve a conflict. The well-served client is rarely the one who "won the case" after eight years, but the one whose problem was solved earlier — by a well-reasoned demand letter, a firmly conducted negotiation or a contract that prevented the dispute. Brazil's Code of Civil Procedure, which encourages settlement at every stage, is a legal formulation of Sun Tzu's principle.
Know yourself and your opponent. Sun Tzu teaches that whoever knows the enemy and knows themselves need not fear a hundred battles; whoever knows only themselves will win and lose; whoever knows neither will always lose. Before filing a lawsuit, the strategic lawyer asks: what are the debtor's real assets? Are there attachable assets? What is the opposing party's litigation history? What evidence do we have — and what evidence do they have? A collection action against someone with no assets is a victory without substance.
The terrain. Sun Tzu devotes entire chapters to choosing the terrain. In law, the terrain is the forum, the route and the procedure: courts or arbitration, an ordinary action or enforcement of an executory instrument, small-claims court or a civil court, urgent relief or a preliminary injunction. The choice of terrain often decides the outcome before the first hearing.
Time and cost. The treatise warns that no State has ever benefited from prolonged warfare. Long litigation consumes the client — in fees, energy and lost opportunities. Strategy includes knowing when to act fast — urgent relief before assets are dissipated — and when time is on your side.
Information and surprise. Sun Tzu values deception in war. Here the parallel requires care: in legal proceedings there is no room for fraud or disloyalty. The legitimate lesson is different — not revealing the strategy too early, choosing the moment to produce evidence, preparing for arguments the opponent has not yet made.
For your career: choosing your own terrain also applies to the professional. Specializing in an area where you can be excellent is more strategic than competing in every market at once.
2. Machiavelli, The Prince: the world as it is
Written in 1513 and published posthumously in 1532, The Prince scandalized readers by describing politics as it is rather than as it ought to be. Machiavelli, a former secretary of the Florentine Republic who had been removed from power, sought to offer rulers a realistic manual for gaining and keeping the State.
A myth to dispel. The phrase "the ends justify the means" does not appear in The Prince. In chapter XVIII, Machiavelli observes that rulers are judged by results — which is different from authorizing any means. For lawyers, the distinction is essential: the Brazilian Bar's Code of Ethics and the duty of procedural good faith (Code of Civil Procedure, Art. 5) set limits that no result can justify.
Virtù and fortuna: dikes against the river. In chapter XXV, Machiavelli compares fortune to a raging river that, in flood, sweeps everything away — but against which dikes and embankments can be built in calm times. It is perhaps the best metaphor ever written for preventive legal practice. Well-drafted contracts, shareholder agreements, family holding companies, succession planning and compliance programs are dikes: built in calm times, they protect when the flood comes — litigation, a business crisis, the death of the founder. A lawyer who acts only after the flood arrives too late.
Loved or feared. In chapter XVII, Machiavelli concludes that, if one cannot be both, it is safer to be feared than loved — provided one avoids being hated. In managing law firms and legal teams, the contemporary lesson is subtler: authority comes from predictability and respect, not fear; what destroys leadership is the perception of injustice and arbitrariness.
Reputation. Machiavelli insists that the prince must look after his image and avoid contempt. For lawyers, reputation is the main asset: it is built slowly, through technical and ethical consistency, and can be lost in a single episode of disloyalty.
The difficulty of innovation. In chapter VI, Machiavelli warns that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more uncertain of success, than to introduce a new order: the innovator has as enemies all who benefited from the old order and only lukewarm defenders among those who would benefit from the new. This is exactly the profession's moment in the face of artificial intelligence. Firms that adopt technology face internal resistance and external distrust; those that do not risk falling behind. Machiavelli's lesson is that innovation requires one's own strength — investment, conviction and method — and not just goodwill.
For your career: Machiavelli distinguishes those who reach power through their own merit and arms from those who reach it through fortune or the arms of others — and shows that the former keep it more easily. In legal practice, a client base built on one's own competence lasts longer than one inherited from occasional connections.
3. Gracián, The Art of Worldly Wisdom: prudence as a profession
Published in 1647 under the original title Oráculo manual y arte de prudencia, the Jesuit Baltasar Gracián's book gathers three hundred aphorisms on how to live and act wisely among others. If Sun Tzu is the manual of conflict and Machiavelli the manual of power, Gracián is the manual of conduct — and perhaps the most directly applicable to a lawyer's daily life.
Good things, when short, are twice as good. Gracián's most famous aphorism (105) could hang in every law office. Judges read hundreds of briefs a week; a long, repetitive, wordy brief dilutes the decisive argument. Clarity and concision are forms of respect for the court — and, increasingly, a competitive advantage in an environment where AI itself multiplies the volume of text.
Do not reveal yourself entirely. Gracián advises not to show all your cards, to keep something in reserve and not to exhaust others' expectations. For lawyers, this translates into discretion about strategy, professional confidentiality — an ethical and legal duty — and not anticipating arguments that may be more effective at the right moment.
Know how to wait. Gracián values time as an ally of those who know how to use it. In some cases haste is fatal; in others, time ripens the negotiation, wears down the opponent's resistance or allows a favorable precedent to become settled.
Know how to refuse. Knowing how to say no gracefully is, for Gracián, an art as important as knowing how to grant. A lawyer who accepts every case, every deadline and every argument compromises quality and reputation. Declining a reckless case, advising against a lawsuit with no real chance or telling clients what they do not want to hear are acts of loyalty — and of professional self-preservation.
Do not outshine those above you. Among the first aphorisms (7), Gracián warns against triumphing over one's superiors: a victory that humiliates those in power is usually paid for later. In court, the lesson calls for firmness without arrogance before the judge; in one's career, tact in dealing with partners and clients.
Choose well. Gracián insists on the art of choosing — friends, allies, occupations. In legal practice, choosing clients, partners and collaborators is a strategic decision: a bad client consumes the firm; a bad partner compromises a reputation built over years.
For your career: Gracián reminds us that reputation depends as much on being as on seeming. It is not enough to be competent: competence must be perceived — and, in the digital world, that includes producing quality content, soberly and within the limits of the Brazilian Bar's rules on professional advertising (Provision 205/2021).
4. The modern bridge: Getting to Yes
The three classics offer principles; a method was missing. It came in 1981, when Roger Fisher and William Ury, of the Harvard Negotiation Project, published Getting to Yes. The book turned ancient intuitions into negotiation technique — and became the basis of mediation and conciliation training worldwide, including in Brazil.
Four ideas sum up the method:
- Separate the people from the problem. Emotions, resentments and vanities contaminate negotiation; dealing with them separately allows the merits to be discussed objectively.
- Focus on interests, not positions. A position is what a party says it wants; an interest is why it wants it. Two opposing positions may conceal compatible interests — a creditor demanding immediate payment may actually need only security.
- Invent options for mutual gain. Before dividing what is on the table, try to enlarge what can be divided: deadlines, guarantees, non-monetary trade-offs.
- Insist on objective criteria. Market prices, precedents, expert reports and tables reduce a contest of wills to a discussion about standards.
The book's most strategic contribution is the notion of the best alternative to a negotiated agreement — BATNA. Before negotiating, you must know what happens if there is no agreement. Whoever has a good alternative negotiates from strength; whoever does not should know it before sitting down at the table.
The parallel with Sun Tzu is clear: knowing your own alternative and your opponent's is knowing yourself and your enemy. So is the dialogue with Brazil's Code of Civil Procedure: the conciliation and mediation hearing (Art. 334) and the courts' consensual dispute resolution centers are the institutional space where these techniques are applied every day.
The four books side by side
| Sun Tzu | Machiavelli | Gracián | Fisher and Ury | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central theme | Conflict | Power | Conduct | Negotiation |
| Key idea | Win without fighting | Build dikes in calm times | Good things, when short, are twice as good | Interests, not positions |
| In litigation | Choice of forum, route and timing | Anticipate risks and consolidate positions | Clear and concise briefs | Settlement based on objective criteria |
| In transactions | Due diligence on the counterparty | Contracts, holding companies and compliance as prevention | Discretion and selection of partners | Clauses that create value for both sides |
| In your career | Choose your own terrain | Reputation and innovation with your own strength | Know how to refuse and how to wait | Know your best alternative |
The ethical limits
Reading classics of strategy does not authorize importing into legal practice everything they allow in war or politics. Brazilian lawyers are bound by the Statute of the Legal Profession (Law 8,906/1994), the Brazilian Bar's Code of Ethics and the duty of procedural good faith (Code of Civil Procedure, Art. 5); bad-faith litigation is sanctioned (Arts. 79 to 81). The deception Sun Tzu recommends against the enemy has no place before a judge; Machiavelli's realism does not justify disloyalty toward the opposing party. Legitimate legal strategy works with information, timing, preparation and the choice of routes — never with fraud.
A critical reading: the lawyer as strategist
The three classics converge on a point that matters for the future of the profession: value lies in judgment, not execution. Sun Tzu teaches us to think before acting; Machiavelli, to see the world as it is and prepare for adversity; Gracián, to act with measure among people and institutions. None of these skills can be automated.
As artificial intelligence takes over research and drafting tasks, the lawyer who survives and thrives will be the one who knows which battle to fight, which dike to build and when to speak — and, above all, who knows how to tell the client when the fight is not worth it.
Next block
The second block of the Strategic Lawyering series will move from strategy to decision-making: how we think, err and judge, drawing on works such as Michael Sandel's Justice, Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, and Noise, by Kahneman, Sibony and Sunstein.
References
- SUN TZU. The Art of War (5th–4th centuries BC).
- MACHIAVELLI, Niccolò. The Prince (written 1513, published 1532), especially chs. VI, XVII, XVIII and XXV.
- GRACIÁN, Baltasar. The Art of Worldly Wisdom (Oráculo manual y arte de prudencia, 1647).
- FISHER, Roger; URY, William. Getting to Yes (1981).
- Law 8,906/1994 (Statute of the Legal Profession and the Brazilian Bar); Brazilian Bar Code of Ethics and Discipline; Provision 205/2021 of the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar.
- Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure, Arts. 3, 5, 79 to 81 and 334.
Strategic Lawyering Series — Biblioteca Andrade & Cintra. Informational content. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.