Winning at Litigation through Decision Analysis: Creating and Executing Winning Strategies in any Litigation or Dispute PDF
Preview Winning at Litigation through Decision Analysis: Creating and Executing Winning Strategies in any Litigation or Dispute
Springer Series in Operations Research and Financial Engineering John Celona Winning at Litigation through Decision Analysis Creating and Executing Winning Strategies in any Litigation or Dispute Springer Series in Operations Research and Financial Engineering Series Editors Thomas V. Mikosch Sidney I. Resnick Stephen M. Robinson More information about this series at h ttp://www.springer.com/series/3182 John Celona Winning at Litigation through Decision Analysis Creating and Executing Winning Strategies in any Litigation or Dispute John Celona San Carlos , CA , USA ISSN 1431-8598 ISSN 2197-1773 (electronic) Springer Series in Operations Research and Financial Engineering ISBN 978-3-319-30038-2 ISBN 978-3-319-30040-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-30040-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016940906 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 T his work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. T he use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. T he publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland This book is dedicated to Professor Ronald A. Howard and Dr. Peter McNamee, who taught me decision analysis and how to write about it; to our son Trey, whose love lights up our lives in ways we never could have predicted; and to my spouse and partner in life Bubba Gong, without whose constant love, support, belief and counsel this work would never have come to fruition. Foreword O ver the course of more than half a century, my main professional concern has been improving decision making. The importance of decisions should be self-evident: Decisions are the only means you have to change your future life. M ost of us consider ourselves pretty good at making decisions despite having little or no formal training in the subject. Yet the principles of good decision making have been known for generations. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to demonstrate how frequently people make decisions that seem unwise to them upon more careful review. Hence my personal commitment in spreading decision analysis is to provide anyone who wishes the competence to attain clarity of action in any decision they face. My latest book with Ali Abbas, F oundations of Decision Analysis , presents the fi eld at levels that progress from novice to professional. In this work John Celona applies decision analysis to decisions in litigation or, more generally, to disputes of all sorts: an area in which improved decision compe- tence can greatly help people to clarify what they want, what it is worth to them, and how best to achieve it. Litigation decisions are especially diffi cult because they involve high stakes, great uncertainty, and because they require close cooperation between the principal (a client) and a highly trained professional (the attorney). Decision analysis should be a part of every attorney’s training. Unfortunately, it is not. Further, among the many works on decisions in litigation, none tackle in depth the application of decision analysis to litigation. This book will help to fi ll that gap. A further challenge arises when an analyst (possibly trained in decision analysis, management science, or operations research) is called in to support the legal decision- making process. Legal terminology, issues, and how to structure and ana- lyze them are critical, yet foreign to an analyst—and most attorneys are not trained to provide what the analyst needs to know about legal proceedings. This book will be of great assistance. For over three decades, I have known, taught, and worked with the author at Stanford University, at Strategic Decisions Group, and during his subsequent inde- pendent consulting practice. I have always found him to be an exceptionally clear thinker and commend his contributions to the fi eld of decision analysis. His fi rst book on decision analysis, D ecision Analysis for the Professional (coauthored with vii viii Foreword Peter McNamee), played a key role in developing the professional practice of deci- sion analysis. This work, fi rst published in 1986 and presently in its fourth edition, continues in use at Stanford University and around the world. The author’s combination of clear thought, acumen, ability, training, and experi- ence in both the law and decision analysis make him uniquely qualifi ed to author this work. I applaud his newest contribution to wider decision competence and rec- ommend it highly. Stanford, CA Ronald A. Howard Productio n Credits Apple OS Support: Adam Rosen, Oakbog.com. ix
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