As students discern how their values have affected the ways they select particular pro bono cases, they become more aware that attorneys must not impose decisions upon clients who may have different values. In alternative dispute resolution courses, the simulation can help mediation students see both why they need to determine what is of value to the parties and why the outcome they, as mediators, might want to impose may not be best for the parties involved. The simulation could lead to a discussion of how dissonance between a professional responsibility requirement and attorney values may affect behavior. The exercise could easily become a part of the classroom component for a clinical course. The exercise may help some of our students avoid the flaw Gerald Brenan ascribed to intellectuals.
Intellectuals are people who believe that ideas are of more importance than values.
That is to say, their own ideas and other people's values.