A Letter From the Chair

By Sarah J. Taylor

Happy Summer and welcome to new and continuing members of the Rural Practice Section! As Chair this year, I hope to continue the programs and progress made by our recent Chair, Angel Wawrzynek, and try new things as we continue our goals of leveraging ISBA resources to benefit rural and small-town practitioners across the state. I am excited to begin this journey, and I have a great team in the Rural Practice Section Council. Membership in this Section continues to be free for ISBA members, so please spread the word about joining! Check out the Rural Practice Section webpage for more information.

The Rural Practice Section was established:

To promote professional excellence among those engaged in the practice of law in small towns and rural communities;
To serve as a resource for those lawyers engaged in the practice of law in small towns and rural communities;
To provide opportunities for the exchange of information particularly pertinent to the needs of practitioners in small towns and rural communities;
To explore and implement improvements to access to justice for residents of small towns and rural communities across the State of Illinois, including but not limited to administer the ISBA Rural Practice Fellowship Program;
To review relevant matters and issues and to study and recommend solutions to various problems involving the public, the court, and attorneys insofar as the areas of concern of the Section are involved; and
To collaborate with other sections and committees of the ISBA, as well as with other organizations, in furtherance of the above mission objectives.

There are many ways in which the Section is already living up to this mission statement. In addition to continuing (and continuing to improve) the Rural Practice Fellowship Program, the Section has been strengthening the ISBA Affiliated Bar Program and collaborating with ISBA Mutual Insurance Company and local rural bar associations to provide CLE opportunities for their members. The Section also regularly publishes a robust newsletter chock full of practical and interesting content. We welcome submissions from practitioners like you!

I will be sharing more about the activities and benefits of the Section in future newsletters, but one of my main goals is to promote connections and collaborations between rural lawyers, local bar associations, law schools, and other groups, so if you have an idea you want to discuss, please feel free to email me at staylor@btbhh.com.

Sarah J. Taylor
Chair, ISBA Rural Practice Section

Rural Practice Section Chair Sarah Taylor (right) presents a plaque to outgoing Chair Angel Wawrzynek during the ISBA Annual Meeting at the Ritz-Carlton in St. Louis on June 12, 2026. Congratulations, Angel, on a successful bar year, and thank you for your outstanding leadership and service to the Rural Practice Section!

Back to the July 2026 Newsletter