A Paradigm Shift: Approaching Cases Through Decision Analysis

Decision analysis can be applied to everything from valuing a case to assessing probabilities of different outcomes to guiding successful dispute resolutions. But, adopting a decision analysis approach typically requires a sharp pivot away from how most lawyers have been trained, going back to law school. Most lawyers are accustomed to an intuition-based approach, derived from an assessment of the facts and their intersection with the applicable law. This typically leads to qualitative probability estimates, e.g. "we have a good chance." Decision analysis provides a framework to translate qualitative probability estimates into actual numbers and a common language between lawyers and their clients that can eliminate potential misunderstandings.

Decision Analysis-Based Training, Consulting & Mediation

Drawing from his deep background as a teacher, scholar, and attorney, Rick Gautschi brings an unusual combination of experience, skills, and perspective to ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.

Rick has spent over five decades as a teacher, first as an instructor pilot in the United States Air Force, and later as a lecturer and professor at the graduate and undergraduate levels at colleges and universities in Washington, California, Maine, and Virginia. He has taught negotiation skills to hundreds of business and law school students and has taught numerous sections of Business, Government, and Society; Organization Theory; Decision Making; Business Ethics; and Introduction to Law. Several of his scholarly journal publications have been widely cited (placing his articles in the top 5% of all cited publications). As a practitioner of the Socratic Method, Rick developed an acute ability to listen, facilitate, and guide discussions. He twice won the Instructor of the Quarter at the Foster School of Business and was awarded University of Washington Intrafraternity Council Excellence in Teaching Award in 2007. Rick is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and holds an MBA from California State University East Bay, a Ph.D. in Business from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from the University of Washington. In addition, Rick practiced employment law for over 20 years. He is currently a panelist on the American Arbitration Association Employment and Consumer Arbitration Panels and a decision analysis trainer and consultant.

☎ CONTACT

rick@gautschiadr.com
(206) 310-4273

Training, Consulting & Mediation Services