Beyond Right and Wrong — The Power of Effective Decision Making for Attorneys and Clients

This book guides attorneys and clients through legal decision making. It analyzes 11,306 attorney-client decisions in actual cases and summarizes decades of research regarding judge, jury, litigant and attorney decision making. To explain why many litigation outcomes are suboptimal, the book describes the psychological and institutional factors that impede sound decision making. The roles of attorneys and clients in legal decision making and the legal malpractice and disciplinary consequences of ineffective legal representation also are discussed. To rapidly promote better financial outcomes in civil litigation and to assist attorneys and clients in becoming expert decision makers, the book presents more than 65 ideas, methods and systems for improving personal and group decision making.

Randall Kiser is the principal analyst at DecisionSetR, a decision services and professional development company in Palo Alto, California. Mr. Kiser, a decision analyst and an attorney, has worked closely with litigants, insurers and attorneys in assessing risks, evaluating litigation alternatives and improving individual and organizational decision-making skills. He is the author of How Leading Lawyers Think (Springer, 2011) and the lead author of the widely read article, “Let’s Not Make A Deal: An Empirical Study Of Decision Making In Unsuccessful Settlement Negotiations” (Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3, September 2008). Mr. Kiser received his law degree in 1978 from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall), and obtained his undergraduate degree in 1975 from the University of California, Davis (Highest Honors). His legal education is complemented by the award in 2002 of a certificate in leadership from the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University.