According to the American Bar Association there are 1.3 million lawyers in the United States, with most located in major cities, creating shortages in small towns and rural counties. To help address the concerns, the Illinois State Bar Association has designed a Rural Practice Fellowship Program, explains local Attorney Scott McClintock:
“The ISBA, which is the Illinois State Bar Association, has a rural Attorneys Fellowship. Any county basically that is not the collar counties, any of the counties that are downstate are under served as far as attorneys go, so the ISBA will chip in money. It is not a large amount, but it is something that maybe you can be more competitive with as far as paying an individual coming out of First Year Associate. I think they chip in $10,000 now, which if you are coming out of law school, that can make a difference.”
While there are many areas of law to practice, McClintock shares the areas in the greatest need locally are Family Law, Work Comp, and Immigration.
