ISBA Launches Rural Practice Fellowship Program as Component of Rural Practice Institute

In an effort to address the ongoing shortage of attorneys practicing in rural Illinois, the ISBA has launched the Rural Practice Institute and the Fellowship Program that is a part of that Institute. The Fellowship Program aims to connect rural and small-town law firms interested in hiring law clerks and associates with law students and newer attorneys desirous of practicing law in rural areas of Illinois. Attorneys and law students admitted into the Program will receive a stipend of $10,000 or $5,000, respectively, to encourage their establishment of a practice in rural areas of our State.

Data shows that more than half of Illinois counties have fewer than 0.7 lawyers in private practice per 1,000 residents. Thirty-four Illinois counties have ten or fewer attorneys total in private practice, and 13 counties have a total of five or fewer attorneys in private practice. Worse, many attorneys in rural areas are nearing retirement (for which step we wish them well) and are not being replaced in significant enough numbers to avoid a growing crisis in access to justice.

The ISBA Special Committee on the Rural Practice Initiative created two complementary fellowship programs to address the issue:

1. a clearinghouse to connect law students (summer fellows) with rural practitioners for an 8-10 week summer clerkship; and
2. a clearinghouse to connect young lawyers (associate fellows) with experienced practitioners searching for a permanent associate to whom they might eventually transfer their practice.

As an extra incentive, both summer fellows and associate fellows accepted into these programs will be eligible to receive a stipend.  Summer fellows will receive a $5,000 relocation and expense stipend from the ISBA, plus any amount that the experienced practitioner agrees to pay them.  This arrangement will allow fellows to earn $8,000-$10,000 per summer, which is extremely competitive for summer opportunities for law students.  Associate fellows will receive the same $5,000 relocation stipend planned for the summer fellows, but in addition, the associate fellows will also receive a $5,000 stipend upon the completion of their first year as a rural practitioner.  This second stipend will serve as an additional inducement for young and new lawyers to relocate permanently to rural areas.

“I look at this as part of succession planning,” ISBA President Dennis Orsey said. “We know in a number of the counties in the state of Illinois we have an aging lawyer population. A number of these practicing attorneys have good, viable practices with a built-in client base. What they’re looking for are younger attorneys who are willing to settle in that rural community and eventually take over their practices.”

Applications from both potential summer fellows and from law firms or experienced practitioners seeking to employ a fellow will be due by February 12, 2021.

Additional information about the RPI program, as well as the application, can be found at https://www.isba.org/ruralpractice.

The RPI Special Committee will inform applicants if they are accepted into the program by March 1, 2021 and, to facilitate the scheduling of interviews, will provide both summer fellows and experienced practitioners with each other’s contact information at that time. The deadline for summer fellows to accept an offer of employment and for experienced practitioners to secure a summer clerk fellow will be March 14, 2021.

Daniel R. Thies and Lois J. Wood are co-chairs of ISBA’s Special Committee on the Rural Practice Initiative.