In May 2020, the WSBA released the results of the “WSBA Legal Practice in Washington’s Rural Communities” survey. In that survey, practitioners in rural Washington cited, among many needs, a need to promote WSBA resources more directly to rural practitioners and to provide financial incentives to encourage members to practice in rural communities.
In 2024, the WSBA’s Small Town and Rural (STAR) Council launched a pilot program to provide grants to law students participating in summer internships in rural parts of Washington. The purpose of these grants is to assist in building a pipeline of rural attorneys who will help narrow the legal services gap in rural communities throughout the state.
In the new issue of Washington State Bar News, we hear from two interns who ventured to rural law offices in the Tri Cities area: why they wanted to be rural interns, why they plan to practice law in a rural place, and why they think others should consider the same.
“As many legal professionals know, hands-on experience can be tricky to come by while in law school. Hands-on experience was plentiful throughout last summer,” intern Shaw Lowry said in this month’s cover feature. “My internship provided me the opportunity to meet with my clients, to understand the legal issues they were facing, and to speak at length with colleagues for advice and mentorship. In many situations, these opportunities helped me place my clients in a better position.”
In this new issue of Bar News, catch up on the latest from Olympia with a mid-session report on the Washington Legislative Session. The 105-day session adjourns on April 27, and a few of the many bills the WSBA team has monitored include legislation to establish a loan repayment program for public defense attorneys and prosecutors, a bill sending a non-binding request to the Washington Supreme Court to reinstate the Limited License Legal Technician program, and updates to Washington’s corporation acts.
Also in this issue you can find an ethical analysis of a lawyer’s duties to prospective clients, techniques for drafting persuasive rules, tips for finding your firm’s creative side, and more.
