21-05-2025
Editorial: Help on the way for Indiana's attorney deserts
If asked whether there aren't enough attorneys around, many Hoosiers might respond off the cuff, 'Aren't enough? One is too many!'
But those living in many areas of the state would answer differently should they find themselves in need of an attorney for representation in a civil or criminal case.
A recent news article by CNHI State Reporter Carson Gerber illuminated the dearth of attorneys across Indiana.
More than half of the state's 92 counties are considered 'attorney deserts,' meaning they have fewer than one lawyer per 1,000 residents. That puts the state in the bottom 10 nationally with an average of just 2.3 attorneys per 1,000 Hoosiers, the American Bar Association reports.
As a result, many Hoosiers — unable to afford the considerable expense of bringing in an attorney from out of town — end up standing alone before a judge, trying to interpret the law without any expertise to do so.
It puts them at a disadvantage and clogs court dockets with long hearings and delays as judges and other court personnel try to help unrepresented plaintiffs and defendants navigate the judicial system.
As reported by Gerber, state legislators and the Indiana Supreme Court are moving toward solutions to provide legal services in underserved areas.
In July 2024, a special commission released a 74-page preliminary report with recommendations to bolster legal services across Indiana by attracting more attorneys to practice in underserved areas of the state. A final plan from that report is expected to be released in July 2025.
Reacting to the preliminary report, the state Supreme Court has already made some changes in its rules, now enabling business owners to represent themselves, rather than hiring an attorney, in small claims seeking more than $6,000, and relaxing rules to allow more lawyers with licenses in other states to practice in Indiana.
The Legislature, as is its practice, responded more slowly, adopting into law just two of the report's 16 recommendations.
Indiana law now allows municipal attorneys to live in a contiguous county, and the state has created a framework for a scholarship program that would provide up to $60,000 to law students who agree to serve as a deputy prosecuting attorney or public defender in Indiana for a minimum of five years after they pass the bar.
Alas, lawmakers, in this lean budget session, did not provide funding for the scholarship program.
The Indiana Bar Association is also addressing the state's 'attorney deserts' through several measures, most notably an incubator program to help new lawyers establish practices in rural and other underserved areas.
These various initiatives and the two new laws promise to at least partially alleviate the problems caused by lack of court representation across many Indiana counties.
And that's an answer to the attorneys question that all Hoosier should be able to appreciate.
