FORT KENT, Maine — If you need to hire an attorney, you want one with experience. A new collaboration between the University of Maine School of Law and the University of Maine at Fort Kent is giving law students just that while serving a population where legal services are sparse.
The rural practice clinic opened this year and gave third-year law students Emma Pooler and Ryan Fowler a chance to work as attorneys before actually graduating.
The clinic is the first of its kind for the university. It aims to bring more legal resources to communities that have been historically underserved, like Aroostook County, while also giving law students an opportunity to gain experience they can't get from reading a textbook.
"I very much appreciate the interaction with the people that need the help and trying to solve problems and, preparing to go into a rural practice myself, I couldn't think of really a better way to prepare for my career," Ryan Fowler said.
Pooler said she has wanted to be an attorney since she was a little girl. Growing up in Fort Kent, she has seen firsthand how limited affordable and accessible legal services are in rural parts of the state. Practicing at the clinic has only amplified her passion to serve her community.
"Being able to practice law and work on real cases has been the most challenging and rewarding experience that I've had in law school," Emma Pooler said.
If someone is waiting for a court-appointed attorney, the students said those people could be waiting for months. However, that reality is part of a bigger problem. A report released by the Board of Overseers of the Bar in 2018 shows 51 percent of attorneys practice or reside in Cumberland County.
"There's a desperate need for attorneys in the [rural] counties and most counties outside of Cumberland County," Chris Northrop, co-director of clinical programs at the University of Maine School of Law, said.
He said the rural practice clinic has been 10 years in the making and that the need for public and private defenders around the state has only grown in that time.
"There is a shortage of attorneys and if we can get our students out there, if we can get them integrated into the communities and get them connected, they're far more likely to settle and practice there," Northrop said.
The university is hoping to eventually expand the rural practice clinic to other counties in need across the state. Any student with more than a year and a half of schooling under their belt is eligible to apply.
To learn more about the rural practice clinic, watch the full segment above.