Country Lawyers Wanted

   During the Watergate hearings Sam Ervin would often play down his acute legal acumen by referring to himself as just a “country” lawyer. Those Watergate folks as well as the then President of the United States learned the hard way that a country lawyer did not necessarily mean a bumpkin. But apparently in the United States in some rural areas a real country lawyer is hard to find. A recent front page article in the New York Times bannered: “No Lawyer for 100 miles. So One Rural State Offers Pay”. The article talks about Bennett County in South Dakota which is situated between two Indian reservations on the Nebraska border. One lawyer who has practiced there for 64 years is near retirement. After him the next working attorney is 120 miles away. So the state of South Dakota is planning to do something about this problem. South Dakota is not alone. States like Nebraska and Iowa are coming up with their own lawyer “seed” plans. The federal government has for years had a medical program called the National Health Service Corps which offers up to $60,000 in tax-free loan replacement for two years of medical service in under served areas of the country. That program consists of nearly 10,000 medical, dental and mental health professionals serving 10.4 million people almost half of which are in rural communities. South Dakota has come up with a similar plan for lawyers. Its new law which will go into effect in June 2013 requires a five-year commitment from the applicant and sets up a pilot program of up to 16 participants. Each “Go West” lawyer will receive an annual subsidy of $12,000. That doesn't sound like much to high powered corporate legal eagles. But for those interested in seeing real eagles fly, it may be just the ticket. By all accounts there may be plenty of work out there.