EVIDENCE -- Prior Research on Attorney-Litigant Decision Making -- A Current Assessment of Attorney-Litigant Decision Making In Adjudicated Cases -- CAUSES -- Psychological Attributes of Decision Errors -- Institutional Impediments to Effective Legal Decision Making -- CONSEQUENCES -- Legal Malpractice Liability For Settlement Counseling and Decision Errors -- Ethical Implications of Attorney-Client Counseling and Decision Making -- SOLUTIONS -- Obstacles to Becoming an Expert Decision Maker -- Personal Expertise in Legal Decision Making -- Group Expertise In Legal Decision Making -- Peer Review, Client Evaluations and Law Firm Audits -- Conclusion.

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.