New program helps attorneys open practices in legal deserts

INDIANAPOLIS — John Donovan is a lawyer with his own practice in Mishawaka, but he wants to open up his own firm in a legal desert.

“There are places with no attorneys or one attorney, like Walkerton, North Liberty,” said Donovan.

Donovan is one of 15 participants from all over the state taking part in the Rural Practice Academy, a program the Indiana State Bar Association launched this year to address the state’s attorney shortage.

“The goal is to have the skills and the confidence and the tools to launch or grow and sustain a rural firm in Indiana,” Christine Cordial said, director of justice initiatives at the Indiana State Bar Association.

Donovan is getting tips from panelists and other participants on how to start his own rural law practice.

“It’s a little exciting in that getting help, and anytime you can get help to do something, achieve a dream, take care of your family, that’s always nice,” Donovan said.

More than half of Indiana’s counties are classified as legal deserts, with the state averaging only 2.3 attorneys per 1,000 residents compared to a national average of 4.

People in rural areas are hit the hardest by the state’s attorney shortage.  Residents need legal help including criminal defense, family law, wills and estate planning services.

Ryan Adams was born in Richmond. He wants to open a nonprofit law firm in Wayne County so he can help disadvantaged people get legal help.

“I expect to spend most of my life working on this problem, so no matter how long we have it, I’m going to try to be the solution for it,” Adams said.

As part of the Rural Practice Academy, participants are learning how to market themselves and build up their client base in rural areas.

The Indiana State Bar Association hopes the program can be a model for other states.

“There’s a group of other state bar associations, and they’re really interested in seeing how this is going, and seeing our work product, and may try to replicate that in other states,” Derrick Wilson said, incoming president at the Indiana State Bar Association.

Participants will graduate in June 2027.

49 counties in Indiana are considered a “legal desert,” which is when a county has fewer than 1 lawyer for every 1,000 residents.

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