LAWFARE is now everywhere… and it is really just direct economic warfare by another name
Sam Lessin
Context
I’ll admit (maybe a little embarrassingly) I hadn’t even heard the word “lawfare” until about 18 months ago. I was at this small, off-the-record conference, and suddenly the term was everywhere. Fast-forward: now I see it all over the place. And what’s wild is how quickly the meaning and use of lawfare has flipped.
Once upon a time, law was the tool of the people, the mechanism the less powerful used to keep the powerful in check. Now? The script has flipped. Lawfare has become just another form of economic warfare, except now it’s the plaything of the ultra-powerful. It’s not the underdog’s last resort; it’s the billionaire’s first move.
Sure, Trump is the most visible popularizer of this strategy, but it’s everywhere across the political spectrum, in business, tech, you name it. The pattern is always the same: if you have the resources, you can weaponize the legal system to exhaust your rivals, regardless of the merits. Just keep them buried in lawsuits until they give up or run out of money.
Market Signal
This is a massive, under appreciated shift in the startup and investing landscape. Now, legal resources aren’t just a cost center, they’re a strategic moat. The richest and most powerful can use lawfare to bludgeon smaller players into submission. The power law dynamic is real: the more money you have, the cheaper and more effective legal action becomes for you, and the harder it is for everyone else to fight back.
It’s degenerate, sure—very “France before the Revolution.” But it’s also the logical outcome of our current system, where lawyers (not bankers) are now the highest-paid folks in the room.
Takeaways
Legal firepower is now as important as capital. If you’re building or investing, you need to understand the legal landscape as a source of both risk and opportunity.
The barrier to entry just got higher. For startups, the cost of “just defending yourself” can be existential.
Whoever controls the legal narrative can dictate the economic outcome. This is true whether you’re a founder, investor, or operator.