The strategies of prosecuting or defending a suit are much the same as those mustered on the battlefield. Victory often goes not to the party with the stronger case, but to the party that makes the best use of the process, understanding tactics and strategy. There can be few better sources of the basic strategies of litigation than Sun Tzu and his treatise, The Art of War. Written more than 2,400 years ago, The Art of War touches on the essence of conflict and, by extension, litigation. This can be doubly true for litigation.
Deception is fundamental to the litigation process.
An attorney is expected to deceive because our legal system is adversarial, powered by an engine that requires each attorney to act as a partisan advocate for the client. The attorney is not expected to be an impartial truth-seeker. The attorney champions the client's case by emphasizing the positive, not the negative. This does not mean that attorneys or witnesses are free to lie and mislead. The process requires uncompromising adherence to rules prohibiting perjury and dishonest or unethical advocacy.