"It is a disaster that wisdom forbids you to be satisfied with yourself and always sends you away dissatisfied and fearful, whereas stubbornness and foolhardiness fill their hosts with joy and assurance."
--- Michel de Montaigne (1553 - 1592)
Speaking Engagements
Randall Kiser, a Principal Analyst at DecisionSet®, speaks frequently at professional conferences, universities, legal departments, and law firms. During the last ten years, he has been a featured speaker at more than 100 events in Europe, South America, and North America. These events range from 500+ attorney meetings at law firm retreats and annual state bar conferences to round table presentations for AmLaw 200 managing partners, CFOs, CMOs, and COOs. If you are planning to invite Mr. Kiser to address your organization, please contact him directly at rkiser@decisionset.com.
Reviews of Mr. Kiser’s presentations are consistently positive, as illustrated by these recent, unsolicited comments:
“Your program was the hands-down highlight of our firm meeting! [Name] has not stopped raving about it, and so many others – from Exec Committee and practice group leaders to associates and even very new lawyers – have said it was an outstanding program that put forward data, industry trends, and threats facing this firm in particular that until now we haven’t spent much time talking about. … A great sign that you struck a chord and even inspired action!”
“well delivered and spot on substantively. And as the multiple [attorney] questions showed, you did a nice job of engaging the audience – not an easy task … after they’ve sat through a day and a half of meetings. [We] have already heard lots of positive feedback about it from our colleagues.”
“a big thank you, kudos, wow, you were just fabulous today … a number of people said how helpful … a number of the [firm leaders] reached out – they don’t always do that – said how great you were, really insightful. I think you just really nailed it today. … Again, can’t thank you enough.”
Recent Engagements
Recent, representative speaking engagements are listed below:
The Law Society of New South Wales 2022 Conference, September 5, 2022, Sydney, Australia. “Building Trust – Lawyers’ Relationships with Clients and Colleagues Online.”
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Future of the Profession Initiative, December 14, 2021, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “Legal Innovation & Technology: A Pandemic Perspective.”
Bennett Jones LLP, November 12, 2021, Toronto, Ontario. “Effective Decision Making for Highly Effective Lawyers.”
Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Legal Services Unit, January 13, 2021, February 17, 2021, March 10, 2021, and April 14, 2021. Calgary, Alberta. “Soft Skills for Highly Proficient Lawyers.”
The Zeughauser Group, June 18, 2020, Chair/Managing Partner Zoom meeting, “Decision-making Biases and Affective Forecasting.”
The Zeughauser Group, June 17, 2020, Chief Operating Officer Zoom meeting, “Remote Working.”
Bennett Jones LLP, January 28, 2020, Toronto, Ontario, “Essential Soft Skills for Highly Effective Lawyers.”
Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, University of St. Thomas School of Law, Annual Fredrikson Law Firm Lecture, January 15, 2020, Minneapolis, Minnesota, “Building Better Law Firms With Engagement, Service, and Innovation.”
University of St. Thomas School of Law, January 15, 2020, Minneapolis, Minnesota, “Essential Skills for Gen Z Law Students and Lawyers.”
Indiana University Maurer School of Law and Chapman and Cutler LLP, October 15, 2019, Chicago, Illinois, “Essential Attorney Skills and Law Firm Leadership.”
UC Davis School of Law, Lawyering Process course, January 18, 2019, Davis, California. “Five Critical Skills for the Class of 2021.”
Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, The Legal Profession course, November 9, 2018, Bloomington, Indiana. “Five Aspirations for New Attorneys.”
Quinnipiac University School of Law, Quinnipiac University – Yale Dispute Resolution Speaker Series, September 21, 2018, North Haven, Connecticut. “Soft Skills for Effective Lawyering: Results From 30 Studies.”
Yale Law School, September 20, 2018. New Haven, Connecticut, “How to Be an Effective Lawyer: Results From 30 Studies.”
Spencer Fane Annual Attorney Retreat, Keynote Address, St. Louis, Missouri, September 6, 2018. “Achieving Competitive Advantages in a Dynamic Market.”
Schiff Hardin Annual Firm Meeting Keynote Address, Chicago, Illinois, April 21, 2018. “Building Tomorrow’s Law Firm: Trends, Threats and Strategies.”
Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, April 18, 2018, Bloomington, Indiana. “Five Tough Challenges for New Attorneys.”
24th Annual Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, March 22, 2018. “Soft Skills for Effective Lawyers: Building Rapport, Resolving Conflict.”
Zeughauser Group Chief Marketing Officers Roundtable, February 22, 2018, Beverly Hills, California. “Achieving Competitive Advantages in Law Firm Marketing and Client Service: Trends, Challenges and Strategies.”
Association of American Law Schools, AALS Annual Meeting, Section on Balance in Legal Education, January 4, 2018, San Diego, California. “Access to Justice: Meaning, Mindfulness, Engagement and Responsibility.”
Loyola University Chicago School of Law, October 11, 2017, Chicago, Illinois. “Soft Skills for the Effective Lawyer.”
Legal Evolution PBC and Chapman and Cutler LLP, October 10, 2017, Chicago, Illinois, “Soft Skills for the Effective Lawyer.”
Zeughauser Group Chief Operating Officers Roundtable, September 14, 2017, San Francisco, California. “Gaining Competitive Advantages in Recruiting, Talent Development, Retention and Leadership”
University of Colorado Law School, Conference on “Positive Lawyering, Mindfulness, and Humane Games,” June 1-2, 2017, Boulder, Colorado.”2020 Attorney Profiles: Soft Skills, Leadership, Meaning and Technology.”
Zeughauser Group Law Firm Leadership Roundtable, May 4-5, 2017, Newport Beach, California. “Soft Skills and Technical Skills: Trends and Professional Development Implications.”
Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, April 19, 2017, Bloomington, Indiana. “Decision Making for New Attorneys: Facts, Illusions and Correctives”
Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, January 5, 2017, Bloomington, Indiana. “Attorney-Client Risk Assessment in Settlement vs. Trial Decisions.”
University of Colorado Law School, Conference on “Mindfulness and Thriving Legal Practices,” August 8, 2016, Boulder, Colorado. “From Strivers to Thrivers: Accelerating Professional Development With Soft Skills.”
22nd Annual Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference, Seattle, Washington, March 24, 2016. “Settlement Decision Errors: Facts, Causes and Correctives.”
SanDisk Legal Department All Hands Meeting, Milpitas, California, March 22, 2016. “Decision Management For Corporate Counsel.”
Silicon Valley Association of General Counsel, 27th Annual All Hands Meeting, Santa Clara, California, October 28, 2015. “Quick Strategies for Effective Decision Making.”
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine School of Law, and KPMG Law, Conference on Managing Conflict 4.0: The New Wave of Opportunities for Businesses Around the Globe, Malibu, California, November 9-10, 2015. “Harnessing the Power of Information and Insight to Improve Strategic Decision Making and Choice.”
U.C. Davis School of Law, Representing Clients in Mediation Course, Davis, California, November 4, 2015. “Improving Attorney/Client Decision Making.”
Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada, Annual Law Firm Management Education Seminar, Monterey, California, August 28, 2015. “Decision Making: The Competitive Advantage.”
University of Oslo, The Faculty of Law, April 21, 2015, Oslo, Norway. “Optimistic Overconfidence in Assessing Trial Risks: The U.S. Experience and Suggested Correctives.”
University of California, Davis, School of Law, March 18, 2015, Davis, California. “Tough Calls: Assessing PATNAs in Mediation Advocacy.”
Zeughauser Group Leadership Roundtable for Law Firm Chief Operating Officers, March 12, 2015, Newport Beach, California. “Lawyers as Decision Makers: Facts, Fictions and Frustrations.”
Center for Corporate Legal Leadership, School of Law, University of California, Irvine, November 13-14, 2014. “Corporate Legal Leadership: Becoming a Trusted Advisor Through Effective Decision Making.”
Zeughauser Group Leadership Roundtable for Law Firm Chairs and Managing Partners, November 5 and 6, 2014, Napa, California. “Leading With Big Data and Big Emotions.”
University of Washington Global Affairs Speaker Series, October 27, 2014, Seattle, Washington. “Optimistic Overconfidence in Adjudicated Cases: Evidence From United States and Mexico Courts.”
Utah State Courts, The Appellate Court Conference, Park City, Utah, May 14, 2014. “Improving Group Decision Making In Appellate Courts.”
William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 22, 2014, Conference on Psychology and Lawyering: Coalescing the Field. “The Emotionally Attentive Lawyer: Balancing the Rule of Law with the Realities of Human Behavior.”
Attorney General, Republic of Ecuador, Congress on Public Law and International Law, November 20, 2013, Quito, Ecuador. “An Economic Analysis of Negotiation and Its Application to the Public Sector.”
Utah State Bar Association, Fall Forum, November 15, 2013, Salt Lake City, Utah. Keynote Address, “Our Crisis of Overconfidence.”
Utah State Bar Association, Fall Forum, November 15, 2013, Salt Lake City, Utah. “How Leading Lawyers Think: Case Evaluation and Strategy” (with Hon. Kate A. Toomey, Third District Court, Hon. William B. Bohling, Ret., Bohling Mediation, Hon. David M. Connors, Second District Court, and Jonathan O. Hafen, Parr Brown Gee &Loveless).
UC Davis School of Law, Davis, California, November 8, 2013, “Advanced Negotiations Strategy and Client Counseling.”
Allegheny County Bar Association, 10th Annual Lawrence W. Kaplan Lecture in Conflict Resolution, November 6, 2013, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Decision-Making Expertise: Overcoming Conventional Wisdom and Embracing New Practices.”
University of Colorado Law School, June 27, 2013, Boulder, Colorado. “The Emotionally Intelligent Lawyer.”
San Francisco Bar Association, San Francisco, California, June 15, 2013. “Client Development 101” (with Mark LeHocky, former General Counsel, Ross Stores, Inc.)
Silicon Valley Association of General Counsel Annual All Hands Meeting, Santa Clara, California, December 5, 2012. “Biases in Legal Decision Making.”
California Lawyers for the Arts, November 2, 2012. Mediation Training for Intellectual Property Lawyers.
Missouri State University, Law/Business 550/650, September 7-17, 2012. “Negotiation, Mediation &Arbitration in Business,” (five interviews conducted by professor Stanley Leasure).
Center for Competitive Management, June 21, 2012, “Emotional Intelligence for Lawyers” (with Ronda Muir and Dan Bowling).
ADR Section, Dallas Bar Association. April 11, 2012. “Settlement Decision Making and Mediation Challenges.”
New Jersey State Bar Association, New Brunswick, New Jersey. January 24, 2012. “Judgments: How We Reach Them and How We Can Improve Them.”
The Mediation Society, San Francisco, California. January 11, 2012. “New Voices and Data on Settlement Decision Making: What We’ve Learned from 6,000 Cases and 15,000 Attorneys in California and New York.”
UC Davis School of Law, University of California, Davis. November 8, 2011. Advanced Negotiations Strategy and Client Counseling course.
Utah State Bar Association, Salt Lake City, Utah. October 13, 2011. “Settlement Decision Making.”
Akerman Senterfitt, Miami, Florida. June 24, 2011. “Decision Making: The Competitive Advantage.”
United States District Court, Central District of California, Advanced Mediation Training, Los Angeles, California. May 19, 2011. “Beyond Right And Wrong: The Power Of Effective Decision Making For Mediators, Attorneys And Clients.”
Master Mediator Institute, Los Angeles, California. March 26, 2011. “Wired for Empathy: Understanding Human Connection, Trust and Effective Decision Making.”
Centro Italiano di Mediazione, Rome, Italy. March 12, 2011. “New Directions in Mediation Science.”
American Bar Association, Section of Dispute Resolution, San Francisco, California. April 9, 2010. “Deal or No Deal: Overcoming Multi-Dimensional Barriers to Effective and Efficient Mediation of Disputes.”
UC Davis School of Law, University of California, Davis. March 1, 2010. Seminar in Legal Psychology.
Zeughauser Group, Chief Marketing Officer Roundtable, San Francisco, California. February 4, 2010. “The Psychology of Decision Making and Influence.”
Zeughauser Group, Chair and Managing Partner Roundtable, Pebble Beach, California. November 5, 2009, and November 12, 2009. “Litigation Settlement Decisions.”
American Bar Association Center for Continuing Legal Education. July 14, 2009. “Deal or No Deal: Improving the Odds of Successful Mediation.”
Legal Committee of The Employers Group, Half Moon Bay, California. May 16, 2009. “Who Gets Hurt After Settlement Negotiations Fail?”
Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS) Owners Annual Meeting, Newport Beach, California, May 2, 2009. “Who Gets Hurt After Settlement Negotiations Fail?”
American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Atlanta, Georgia. April 30, 2009. “Deal or No Deal: Leveraging Information to Overcome Psychological Barriers to Effective and Efficient Mediation of Disputes.”
Northern District of California Judicial Conference, Yountville, California. April 18, 2009. “What Happens to Cases That Don’t Settle?”
West LegalEdcenter®, March 31, 2009. “The New Lawyer: How Settlement Strategies Have Affected the Responsibilities of Litigation Counsel.”
Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS) Institute, Los Angeles, California. March 24, 2009. Mediation Workshop.
Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles, California. February 17, 2009. Alternative Dispute Resolution course.
Academy of Court-Appointed Masters Annual Meeting, Scottsdale, Arizona. January 31, 2009. “What Happens After Settlement Negotiations Fail?”