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ARTICLE · 24 JUNE 2013

What's Your Discovery IQ?

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For attorneys in discovery, we are often running plays rather than looking for sequences of options.

United StatesLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Steven Berrent
Steven Berrent
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I am not a big sports fan, but I love sports documentaries. Recently I watched "Kobe Doin' Work," a 2009 film directed by the famed Spike Lee in which Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers star gives his commentary as he watches a game he played against the San Antonio Spurs in 2008. While it is interesting for many reasons, I couldn't help but think about how it relates to our practice as attorneys and discovery in particular.

What stood out for me is how Kobe talks about the difference between "running plays" and "sequences of options" and how essential players with high "Basketball IQ" are to him.

In talking about the Lakers' offense, Bryant says that people "...think it's some mystical, magical, extremely complex Albert Einstein offense. It's really not. It's just basketball." The Lakers' coach, Phil Jackson, Kobe explains, does not teach plays for the team to execute, rather, he creates sequences of options.

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