In a conference room nearly two years ago, I sat as a consultant to a California trial team buried behind juror notebooks, laptops, and abandoned coffee cups. Lead counsel tipped down his readers and said, "He's a tough witness … I just hope the jury believes him." My fingers drummed on the rim of an orange mug. "Since when," I asked after a few seconds, "is hope a strategy?" Admittedly, it was blunt, but with thousands of dollars in costs and many hundreds of hours of attorney time, the lawyer's wishful expectation was less than reassuring.