A method of automatically determining firing priority in a plurality of rules. The method includes the steps of determining a level of dependency of each rule; and generating a hierarchy of rules in response to the level of dependency of each rule, wherein the firing priority corresponds to the hierarchy of rules. In another embodiment, the method further includes the step of determining if the hierarchy results in an inconsistency. In another embodiment, the method further comprises the step of determining if the hierarchy results in a loop. In yet another embodiment, the step of determining a level of dependency of each rule is performed in response to an initial event. In one embodiment the method includes the step of determining if there are reciprocal dependencies between any two rules in the set of rules.