Walden & Rogers: Justice on the Backroads
In Justice on the Backroads: The TBA YLD’s Answer to the Rural Attorney Shortage, Hon. Zachary R. Walden (Criminal Court judge for Tennessee’s 8th Judicial District) and Alix Rogers (Belmont University College of Law) explore the impact of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyer Division’s Rural Judicial Fellowship (RJF) on law students from schools across the state. Built in response to Tennessee’s growing “legal deserts”—areas in which the availability of legal services is diminishing—the RJF program places law students in clerkships with rural judges during the summer to introduce them to career opportunities in rural areas.
The authors discuss the growing national conversation about the urgent need to develop pipelines aimed at supporting legal services. Various states have implemented state-funded programs to incentivize early-career attorneys to consider and commit to practice outside of major metropolitan areas. Tennessee’s RJF program seeks to do this by providing students with an introduction to rural law that places them in a position to cultivate personal connections and mentorship opportunities within rural communities. In addition to their work in the courtroom, students also commit to community service projects, providing a look into rural life beyond the courtroom.
The authors share student reflections on their experiences in the program, noting that students often felt a profound cultural difference between rural legal practice, which emphasized interpersonal relationships, and urban centers, which often felt impersonal and transactional. Students reported that due to the lower number of practitioners in the rural areas, attorneys must be well-versed in multiple legal disciplines. Additionally, they observed that lawyers, judges, and other court personnel maintain a uniquely collaborative environment that creates a community-focused approach to justice.
The authors found that Tennessee’s program has been successful in its mission to strengthen the rural lawyer pipeline. Student fellows describe the unique advantages of rural practice and affirm their commitment to practicing in rural communities, and participating judges have reported renewed optimism about the future of rural practice in Tennessee. The authors hope that the RJF program will continue to grow and for continued investment in immersive experiences like those provided by RJF.
