Small-Town Attorneys Practicing in a Legal Desert

03/08/2023 38 min Episodio 27
Small-Town Attorneys Practicing in a Legal Desert

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Episode Synopsis

Send us a textWhile nearly a quarter of the U.S. population lives in rural America, only 2% of attorneys practice there. Phil Garland has spent 50 years as a general practice lawyer in Garner, Iowa — population 3,000. He has been his town's one-stop shop for legal representation and created a thriving practice through his relationships with residents, local businesses, and other lawyers in his county.But finding young lawyers to consider small-town practices is a nationwide problem. As chair of the Iowa State Bar Association's Rural Practice Committee, Phil spearheaded a Rural Practice Program to encourage summer clerkships in Iowa's small-town legal practices to give law students another option after graduation. His current partner Carrie Rodriguez benefited from that program. Together these Sticky Lawyers give us a glimpse of the benefits (including short work commutes) and challenges of small-town practices.

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