Event Title
Where is the Next Atticus Finch? - The Social Value of Rural Externships
Location
Hirsch Hall, Room F
Start Date
10-3-2018 3:00 PM
End Date
10-3-2018 4:15 PM
Description
Washburn University School of Law has made a concerted effort in recent years to address the lack of attorneys serving populations in rural parts of our state. These communities are seeing their local attorneys age out of practice and as a result access is being limited to justice and the legal system.
This session will touch on participants’ thoughts on Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. High ideals of social justice quickly unravel in rural areas where only a limited number of lawyers practice, let alone specialize in any particular area of law. This will lead into a look at the myriad and multiple roles rural lawyers serve in their community beyond their practice scope, including serving on boards, advising governments and commercial entities, and sometimes serving as prosecutor in one county and defense counsel in another.
I will present information on my personal and professional engagement and discussions with the rural attorneys that took on Washburn Law externs across twenty-six counties in northwest Kansas in Summer 2017. We will discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by rural practice externships in these areas, as well as examine the potential employment and career options for attorneys in these areas.
Returning to the Atticus Finch image we will talk a little about the New Model Rule 8.4(g) and how those non-discrimination professional rules may play out in rural America if adopted by the relevant states. The reality of conflicts of interest and access to legal representation based on ethnicity, economics and social connections will be touched on as well. Ultimately a central theme will be how we as legal educators in externship programs can reach out to bring these rural practitioners and students together to serve the social need in rural America for legal services and advocacy.
Where is the Next Atticus Finch? - The Social Value of Rural Externships
Hirsch Hall, Room F
Washburn University School of Law has made a concerted effort in recent years to address the lack of attorneys serving populations in rural parts of our state. These communities are seeing their local attorneys age out of practice and as a result access is being limited to justice and the legal system.
This session will touch on participants’ thoughts on Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. High ideals of social justice quickly unravel in rural areas where only a limited number of lawyers practice, let alone specialize in any particular area of law. This will lead into a look at the myriad and multiple roles rural lawyers serve in their community beyond their practice scope, including serving on boards, advising governments and commercial entities, and sometimes serving as prosecutor in one county and defense counsel in another.
I will present information on my personal and professional engagement and discussions with the rural attorneys that took on Washburn Law externs across twenty-six counties in northwest Kansas in Summer 2017. We will discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by rural practice externships in these areas, as well as examine the potential employment and career options for attorneys in these areas.
Returning to the Atticus Finch image we will talk a little about the New Model Rule 8.4(g) and how those non-discrimination professional rules may play out in rural America if adopted by the relevant states. The reality of conflicts of interest and access to legal representation based on ethnicity, economics and social connections will be touched on as well. Ultimately a central theme will be how we as legal educators in externship programs can reach out to bring these rural practitioners and students together to serve the social need in rural America for legal services and advocacy.