Professed interest in client views coexists with systematic suppression of those views.

Evidence

Clients are observed to make repeated efforts to tell their stories in their own ways, consistent with a nondirective information search process. However, lawyers continually talk them down by insisting on conducting the interview according to the established format. Lawyers profess interest in clients’ views, but then shut off discussion or questions by asking leading questions or clarifying small points rather than listening to clients’ views. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 883

Categorization

• QUESTION: Does the mismatch between stated service values and enacted routines appear in other street-level settings, or is legal aid peculiar in its level of self-awareness?