“Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan,” lamented President John F. Kennedy. While lawyers embrace the garlands of victory, they eschew the ashes of defeat. Losing is given short shrift in legal education and in mentoring; yet it deserves equal billing on each of our career marquees. There is an art to losing, not just to winning, and it hinges on the ability to reframe. So, here is a short guide for a lost art.

Reframe No. 1: Move the Goalposts

Some matters, litigation and transactional, are losers from day one. The variables tumble the wrong way, the cards flip in the wrong order, the facts stack up on the other side of the scales of justice. While you cannot change circumstances, you can change stories. Make the focus not on prevailing but rather on minimizing damages/losses; not on achieving client goals but rather on escaping worst case (but possible) scenarios; not on routing those opposite but rather on an orderly retreat from them. Pivot your mindset, change your reality.

Reframe No. 2: Different Mindsets, Different Tactics