As I mull over law, literature, and business, I've been intrigued lately by a literary simile of my colleague Alex Scherr. My riff on it is that the litigator is like a novelist. He tells the jury a story. The deal lawyer is more of a playwright. She writes a script, sets the stage, and tells the actors what to do with the props. Generally she gives instructions as to how the actors are to behave, but she is not the actor, in either the theatrical or physical sense of the word. The novelist is ultimately in control of the action, but the playwright is at the mercy of others-- who are sometimes less than faithful to the script.

I'm not sure the description completely works, but I think it's this separation from "the action" that surprises and frustrates many young transactional attorneys, and helps explain why many of them ultimately move from law to the business side. There they make the decisions rather than just setting the stage.

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