Oct. 13, 2025 – It’s harvest time, and this year promises a potential record crop for corn as well as healthy yields for soy, cranberries, and potatoes. But amidst the bounty of Wisconsin’s farms, a shortage is deepening inside its rural courtrooms and law firms. Rural Wisconsin simply doesn't have enough attorneys, with repercussions that could affect thousands of its residents.
More than 60% of the state's lawyers are based in three urban counties – Milwaukee, Dane, and Waukesha. The majority of Wisconsin’s counties have
less than one active attorney per 1,000 residents. There are several counties in the state with fewer than 20 practicing lawyers in the entire county—and a handful with fewer than 10 lawyers each.
Among them, increasing numbers are approaching retirement age. In many cases, retiring attorneys in rural areas aren’t being replaced, and communities that already suffer a shortage of legal access become even more underserved. When an entire region no longer has enough lawyers, vital legal needs go unmet and access to justice is jeopardized. This is a threat to American values, where justice is a birthright for all people, regardless of race, nationality, gender, religion, income, or where one lives or makes their living.
One way the State Bar of Wisconsin is working to address this shortage is through the
Rural Practice Development Program, an initiative designed to help bridge the gap in legal services throughout the state. The program offers a $10,000 financial stipend plus other benefits for attorneys to relocate to underserved rural communities, establish or join a practice, and immerse themselves in local life. The first three attorneys accepted into the program were featured in the
May 28 issue of Inside Track.
Another way is through education, engagement, and support of members at events like the Wisconsin Solo and Small Firm Conference (WSSFC). Held annually at the Kalahari Resort in Lake Delton, WSSFC tailors its educational programs to the needs of small firms and solo practitioners. It is an excellent resource for attorneys interested in exploring what it might be like to work in or hang their own shingle in a small town. WSSFC attendees regularly give feedback that the conference is an extremely valuable (and family-friendly) way to keep up to date with issues that affect them most.
Devin Martin, is the grassroots outreach coordinator with the State Bar of Wisconsin. He can be reached by
email, or by phone at (608) 250-6145.
Finally, the State Bar continues to advocate for state support for loan assistance repayment programs (LRAPs) that entice attorneys to start or move their legal practice to rural areas where they are sorely needed. Such programs have been successful in
recruiting health professionals to underserved rural areas in Wisconsin.
One example of such a program for the legal profession was
2019 Assembly Bill 512. This bill would have created pilot programs through the Public Defender Board that would pay up to $20,000 per year of qualifying student loans to attorneys who take at least 50 public defense appointments in certain rural counties. The proposed program would have targeted two pressing needs within our state's justice system: the need for more attorneys to establish practices in rural areas, and the need for more private bar public defenders. Unfortunately, the proposed legislation did not pass and has not yet been reintroduced into the legislature.
A Wisconsin rural attorney loan repayment program could help bring lawyers to counties that need them and public defenders to unrepresented clients, but lawmakers need to hear from constituents in the legal community to make it happen. Send a message to your legislators on addressing the rural attorney shortage by using the Advocacy Network today.
