For a trial lawyer, sometimes backing away from a fight is the smartest move to make.

That was the lesson that Sullivan & Cromwell partner Garrard Beeney said stuck with him as he argued his way to an $814.9 million arbitration win for BlackBerry that was handed down this week.

Navigating conflicting interpretations of four different documents at the heart of the royalties spat in front of the panel was complicated enough. What Beeney didn't want to do was get distracted by what the other side was throwing at him.