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The Past, Present, And Future Of Rural Northern New England: A Study Of The Demographics Crisis And How It Affects The Rural Lawyer Shortage, Christopher Chavis
The Past, Present, And Future Of Rural Northern New England: A Study Of The Demographics Crisis And How It Affects The Rural Lawyer Shortage, Christopher Chavis
Maine Law Review
Like most of rural America, Northern New England is facing a shortage of lawyers in its rural spaces. The three states are facing an aging bar and demographic trends that indicate that this will only continue. The situation is already dire. The Northern New England states currently rank among the oldest states in the country and there are counties where young lawyers are an almost extinct species. The current trends are not unprecedented. As one of the first areas to industrialize, New England saw its young people leave the countryside early and start to flock to growing cities. As the …
Rural Practice As Public Interest Work, Hannah Haksgaard
Rural Practice As Public Interest Work, Hannah Haksgaard
Maine Law Review
As the rural lawyer shortage continues to grow, rural states and communities must find new ways of attracting law students and graduates to rural practice. This Article explores incentives based on conceptualizing rural private practice as public interest work. Rural lawyers provide public interest lawyering through pro bono cases, mixed practices, community service, and even through providing fee-paid services in rural communities. The Article asserts that law schools and rural communities can capitalize on this view to recruit new lawyers and argues that federal loan forgiveness programs should be expanded to cover rural lawyers.