Most of the theoretical and empirical literature on violence risk has focused on the task of predicting who will behave violently. This article contends that at least two models of risk assessment may be applied to the varying legal decisions in which violence risk is a consideration: prediction (with an emphasis on overall accuracy) and management (with an emphasis on risk reduction). The article focuses on forensic mental health assessment and the context of legal decisionmaking. "Context" is considered broadly, to include the consequences of legal judgments. Legal context is an important part of any effort to increase the relevance and accuracy of information provided by forensic clinicians. Violence risk lends itself particularly well to a contextual analysis, but there may be other legally relevant constructs whose use in legal decisions may also be improved in this way. Notes, tables, references