In Understanding Rural Legal Deserts to Inform Public Policy: Identifying and Describing Lawyer Gaps in Non-Metropolitan Counties, David J. Peters, Emma Bartling, and Emily Meyer (all Agricultural and Rural Policy, Iowa State University) analyze the current trends of lawyer shortages in rural “legal deserts,” areas lacking sufficient legal services, across the United States. In doing so, the authors put forth an alternative calculation and classification of legal deserts that differs from that of the American Bar Association.

In The Healing Power of Antitrust, Theodosia Stavroulaki (Saint Louis University School of Law) analyzes the effects of noncompete and merger agreements between rural hospitals, which lead to “hospital deserts,” areas where geographic access to hospitals and primary care physicians is lacking. These areas leave millions of Americans without necessary medical care, further exacerbating health and racial disparities that leave rural populations particularly vulnerable.