Training the Next Generation of RURAL Lawyer Leaders - Where have we been and where are we going with rural practice opportunities?

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

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At the 2019 AALS Clinical Conference a session on rural externships was filled with questions from those in attendance about how to develop and run a successful rural externship program. While a recent article in the ABA Journal entitled, “No Country for Rural Lawyers” discussed concerns with some state level programs to replace rural lawyers, externship placement programs have been finding success with rural externship placements. The presenters believe that this is an area that will only continue to grow as a job market and that many of our next generation law students are looking for the stability and quality of life opportunities that rural practice could afford them. This session, designed in a question and answer discussion format, will touch on general ideas related to flexibility of rural placements, connecting with practitioners in small towns, ensuring that these placements provide a quality learning experience, using online learning to complement rural externship placements and experiences, the reality of taking a more personalized approach in rural student externship placement and more. We will also spend some time discussing the fact that young attorneys in these areas tend to immediately become Local Lawyer Leaders and what we can do as externship professionals to help prepare our students for that reality in these placements. In summary, the presenters believe that rural attorneys must be prepared to wear many different hats and to be major community leaders. This session will hopefully allow attendees to learn at a basic level how to develop and run a successful rural externship program but will also hopefully look forward to discuss potential curricular changes or suggested curriculum tracks that students planning to practice in rural areas might follow to be prepared for this type of work and these opportunities in practice after graduation.