The Legal vs. the Public World View. Lawyers and the public tend to view disputes somewhat differently. Lawyers approach a dispute through the application of rules and logic and impersonally. The public tends to approach a dispute on a more emotional basis, valuing harmony and the continuation of relationships even where logic might point to another outcome. Court and community collaboration therefore is conducive to a more balanced consideration of solutions to problems than is likely to occur when the task is left to lawyers alone.
Public involvement strengthens the ethic of care dimension in solving disputes.
The public has contradictory expectations of the courts. The public views the courts positively because court decisions are founded in procedural justice. In contrast to legislatures and executive agencies, courts make decisions through predictable, open, and even-handed processes, and explain the reasons for their decisions. At the same time, the public views the courts and the legal profession negatively because lawyers appear to lack a strong ethic of care that incorporates the substance of a dispute and the circumstances of the participants in that dispute. Strengthens Judicial Independence Balances Independence and Accountability.