A Letter From the Chair

Happy fall!

The Rural Practice Section Council has focused much of its efforts over the past few months on the Rural Practice Fellowship Program. Shifting the timetable of the application process proved to be a success! We were able to facilitate quite a few employment relationships! Of the numerous applicants who started the fellows placement program process, nine associate fellows applied for the stipend, and 17 law clerk fellows applied for the stipend. [The council’s decision regarding which of those fellows will receive the stipends will be finalized and announced right around when this newsletter is published.] While I wish we could award a stipend to every fellow hired through our program, I confess that I am actually really pleased that more fellows were hired than we are able to fund. Clearly, our program is making a notable difference.

We intend to keep the new timetable for the fellows program moving forward. So, please mark your calendars for next August to consider applying to participate in the 2026-2027 Rural Practice Fellows program. And tell your friends and colleagues!

In the meantime, our Section Council will turn attention to other benefits for rural practitioners, including generating these newsletters, participating in the ISBA Central Communities, offering and promoting additional CLE, continuing to work on the Affiliated Bar Program, and additional collaboration with local bar associations. If you have any ideas for newsletter articles or CLE topics, please reach out to the Section Council’s staff liaison, Anita DeCarlo at adecarlo@isba.org. We would love to hear from you!