The good news is that law school applications are up! The bad news is that there is a current shortage of lawyers in several states across the US. Law school is expensive and it is hard to fulfill the needs of Gideon v Wainwright if no one is there to represent the people that need legal assistance. Indiana, one of the states facing a lawyer shortage, could get some of the lawyers they need by subsidizing future attorneys.
From ABA Journal:
Indiana could help address an attorney shortage in underserved communities through law student scholarships and loan-repayment assistance, according to initial recommendations by the Indiana Supreme Court’s Commission on Indiana’s Legal Future.
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The law school scholarship would be targeted toward students attending an Indiana state school that would be willing to practice public service for several years. Another selling point would be loan repayment assistance for lawyers practicing in the areas with the most need by giving them stipends. The combination of stipends and the public service loan forgiveness program could be an attractive option for paying off one’s debt load. In addition to the financial incentives, one solution may be to broaden out tasks that traditionally require lawyers to non-lawyers.
Whichever strategies Indiana goes with, the hope is that they will work. We’ve seen the consequences of states that cannot meet the legal needs of their citizens: the work loads the thinly spread public defenders are forced to take up can amount to constitutional violations.
Access To Justice To Address Lawyer Shortage, Indiana Could Fund Scholarships, Approve Allied Professionals, Commission Says [ABA Journal]
Earlier: Public Defender Schedules Are So Swamped It Probably Isn’t Constitutional
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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.