Small-town lawyers may be a dying breed, but South Dakota hopes public subsidies will slow their decline.
Governor Dennis Daugaard on March 21 signed first-in-the-nation legislation establishing incentive payments to as many as 16 attorneys who agree to practice in rural areas for at least five years. If the pilot program works, it could provide a blueprint for others states desperate for small-town lawyers. "South Dakota has enough attorneys they’re just not in the right locations," said state Senator Mike Vehle, who sponsored the bill. "We do this for doctors, dentists and nurses, so why not lawyers?"
