Rural Lawyers a Rarity in Georgia
Georgia has lots of lawyers, but few of them are in rural areas.
Nearly 70 percent of the state’s 28,200 lawyers practice in Atlanta’s core metropolitan areas, leaving just 8,700 lawyers sprinkled across the state, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Thirty-five counties have fewer than four practicing lawyers, and some have none.
The story notes that medical doctors have several programs that offer to forgive their school loans if they serve poor and rural communities. For lawyers, the options are more limited.
The problem is partly economic, says Georgia State University professor Harvey Newman. As rural populations decline, there is less support for economic activity of any kind, he told the newspaper. At the same time, the bad economy is pushing more people in rural areas to need legal help for bankruptcies, foreclosures and other legal problems.
Legal-aid lawyers with the Georgia Legal Services Program provide legal aid outside of the Atlanta area, but they can’t handle all of the cases. The GLSP closed 11,000 cases last year, up from 9,506 in 2007. But one source of its funds—interest on lawyer trust accounts—is declining.
