UMaine Wants to Train More Lawyers For Rural Parts of State

Maine Public | By Associated Press

Published April 7, 2017 at 10:01 AM EDT

PORTLAND, Maine - The University of Maine School of Law is looking to train more lawyers for the vast rural parts of the state.

The school is launching the Rural Lawyer Pilot Project, which is kicking off with a workshop for attorneys and law students on Saturday. It will be a three-year project to place law students with practitioners in communities that would otherwise suffer from a lack of legal services.

UMaine says just 10 percent of the lawyers in private practice in Maine outside of Cumberland County are under the age of 35. About two thirds are 50 or older. The school says the demographics mean rural parts of Maine will likely face a shortage of lawyers in the coming years.