March 2026 by Cliff McKinney |
In 2015, Lisa Pruitt, Bart Calhoun, and I published an article in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review titled “Justice in the Hinterlands: Arkansas as a Case Study of the Rural Lawyer Shortage and Evidence-Based Solutions to Alleviate It.” That article provided an extensive review of the declining number of attorneys living and working in rural areas. Since then, efforts have been made to increase the number of attorneys in rural counties, including the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Rural Practice Incubator Project.
So, have the numbers changed in the last 10 years? Has the shortage of rural attorneys improved or worsened? This article will explore these questions by examining the latest data and trends. While the 2015 article remains highly relevant today, it is interesting to see how the situation has evolved.
The above is an excerpt of an article published in the Winter 2026 issue of The Arkansas Lawyer. You may click the link below to read the full article.
A managing member of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, Cliff McKinney concentrates his practice on real estate, land use, and business transactions. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.