The justice gap in rural communities shouldn’t really be news. With nominal law school tuition continuing to rise almost everywhere, serving a rural (and often poorer) community isn’t economically feasible for young lawyers. Add in competition from established attorneys who already suck up what little available business may present itself, and you have a chronically underserved community.
There are some programs out there trying to address this gap, but the legal community remains mostly oblivious to the legal challenges of rural folks.
And the results of the most recent round of bar exams aren’t encouraging. Bar Exam Stats has results from three states with significant rural populations, and the results show a continuing decline in fresh lawyers.
How AI Is Transforming The Legal Profession (2025)
A survey of professionals reveals the impact of legal work, clients, concerns, and future roles.
What’s the matter with Kansas? Well, a lot of things, but a mere 52 people took the Kansas bar this sitting. I’ve been in actual bars in Kansas with more people. To put the drop in perspective, in 2012, 262 people took the July exam. For a year-to-year breakdown and analysis of passage rates over time, head over to Bar Exam Stats. UPDATE (9/7/16 1:23 p.m.): A helpful tipster notes that Kansas is accepting UBE scores now meaning applicants can test in UBE jurisdictions like Colorado, Missouri, or Nebraska and get in. So that’s maybe the crisis isn’t as bad as it looks. On the other hand, with the Kansas state government assault on the courts, they have their own problems over there.
The next state, by way of an old ESPN-inspired segue, is not my Kansas… it’s not your Kansas… it’s Arkansas! Arkansas just gave up reporting on the number of people taking the exam, which is convenient if you’re planning to lower your standards and don’t want to let the world know you’ve started handing out law licenses to everyone with a pulse. What we can say is that the number of examinees passing the test is down by 53 people (29 percent) since 2012, and it stands to reason the number of people sitting for the exam is off by some comparable number.
The best news is out of Oklahoma, where the number of examinees is down a whopping 100 since 2012, but which held more or less steady since 2015. That said, Oklahoma boasts lucrative energy concerns, has a couple of bigger cities (they even used to have an NBA team before it moved to Golden State in the offseason), and is the most populous of the three states, so these numbers may represent “right-sizing” to the higher-end metropolitan markets, still leaving the rural communities in the cold.
Until something changes, the already anachronistic simple country lawyer may become a distant memory in the next few years.
LexisNexis’ Practical Guidance Is Every Attorney’s Essential Concierge
This tool will — seamlessly and authoritatively — take you from initial research to final draft in just about any practice scenario.
July 2016 Bar Exam Results for Kansas [Bar Exam Stats]
July 2016 Bar Exam Results for Arkansas [Bar Exam Stats]
July 2016 Bar Exam Results for Oklahoma [Bar Exam Stats]
Earlier: Country Lawyers Feeling Good About Their Life Choices
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.