2019 International Client Seminar

The 2019 ALFA International Client Seminar took place February 28 – March 2, 2019 at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, California.

The Game is On: Are You In? (You Have to Play or You’ll Never Win)

2019 ICS Program Brochure

In business and in law, the language of games is pervasive. Lawyers “cry foul” because opposing parties “break the rules.” Firms strive to “put their best team on the field” as their owners and employees “jockey for power.” We criticize people who “play politics” while we celebrate others for being “at the top of their game.” Why is it that so many of the metaphors we use in our careers – both positive and negative – invoke games, gamesmanship, and gambling? Is it that games, just like law and business and virtually every human endeavor, are intensely competitive? Or is it that we want to convince ourselves that players win because they have the greatest skill? Of course, some games – and many outcomes in life – depend entirely on luck. Whatever the reason, talking about games seems to produce less anxiety than talking about litigation or mergers and acquisitions. Losing a game (even a war game) feels less portentous than a million dollar judgment or a bad transaction. We can talk about the strategies and tactics of games without developing ulcers.

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