Soft Skills for the Effective Lawyer

In this groundbreaking book, Randall Kiser presents a multi-disciplinary, practice-based introduction to the major soft skills for lawyers: self-awareness, self-development, social proficiency, wisdom, leadership, and professionalism. The work serves as both a map and a vehicle for developing the skills essential to self-knowledge and fulfillment, organizational respect and accomplishment, client satisfaction and appreciation, and professional improvement and distinction. It identifies the most important soft skills for attorneys, describes and applies hundreds of studies regarding psychology, law, and soft skills, and provides concrete steps and methods to improve soft skills. The book should be read by law students, attorneys, and anyone else interested in how lawyers should practice law.

1. Introduction; 2. Essential soft skills; 3. Self-awareness; 4. Self-development; 5. Social proficiency; 6. Wisdom; 7. Leadership; 8. Professionalism; 9. Conclusion.

Randall Kiser is an internationally recognized authority on attorney performance. He is the author of three books on effective advocacy and durable attorney-client relationships, and he has taught at the University of Washington School of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, University of Nevada School of Law, and Indiana University School of Law. Kiser is a Principal Analyst at DecisionSet® in Palo Alto, California, and his work has been featured in popular and scholarly publications ranging from The New York Times to the Harvard Negotiation Law Review. His writing integrates both academic and practical perspectives derived from twenty years' experience as a litigation attorney and thirteen years as a researcher, consultant, and educator. Kiser received his law degree in 1978 from the University of California, Berkeley.