By: Megan Hill, IU McKinney
Like most states, Indiana is facing a shortage of attorneys in rural areas. Across the country, 14% of people live in rural areas, but only 2% of attorneys practice in rural areas. In 2020, multiple Indiana Counties had less than ten attorneys. Often faced with large amounts of law school debt, young attorneys may be hesitant to practice in rural areas, where there is typically less earning potential. Additionally, the attorneys that are practicing in rural areas are aging and retiring, often without anyone to take over their practice.
States have taken different approaches to try to alleviate this issue. North and South Dakota have implemented the Rural Attorney Recruitment Program. The South Dakota program provides attorneys with a $12,513 per year stipend in return for 5 years of practice in qualifying rural counties or municipalities. Participating local entities must pay 35% of the stipend. There have been thirty-one participants in the South Dakota program since it started in 2013. Out of the ten attorneys that have graduated from the program, seven have stayed in the rural communities to practice. The North Dakota Program is modeled off the South Dakota program and provides the attorneys with a $9,000 per year stipend for five years.
Similarly, Illinois offers the Rural Practice Summer Fellows program & Rural Practice Associate Fellow program. The program offers a $5,000 fellowship grant to law students who clerk for rural practitioners, and a $5,000 stipend if a graduating law student works as an associate with a rural practitioner. The associate receives an additional $5,000 stipend if they are working at the same firm after one year. The program was started in 2020. Currently there are six Summer Clerk Fellows and seven Associate Fellows.
Colorado has taken a slightly different approach. Instead of directly providing stipends to new attorneys who agree to practice in rural areas, the program matches young attorneys in Denver with mentor attorneys in rural areas. The Young attorney may live in Denver and primarily work virtually while being introduced to rural practice. A goal is that if the mentor and new attorney are a good match, the mentor may offer the young attorney a full-time position in their law firm.
One measure that Indiana has taken is the Rural Justice Initiative externship. Both IU Maurer and IU McKinney offer the program, which allows law students to serve as law clerks for Judges in qualifying rural counties and aims to expose law students to rural practice. Participating students receive academic credit and a stipend.
If you would like to submit content or write an article for the Government Practice Section, please email Kara Sikorski at ksikorski@indybar.org.
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