Rural Practice Clinic

In January 2023, the University of Maine School of Law opened its first Rural Practice Clinic in Fort Kent, Maine.

This Clinic brings legal representation and resources to rural communities, are underserved throughout Maine. As a state, Maine is facing a shortage of lawyers and access to representation, a scarcity even more pronounced in rural areas.

The majority of Maine’s population – 60 percent – lives rurally.

As part of the Clinics at Maine Law, the Rural Practice Clinic relies on the work, drive, and initiative of Maine Law students. Each semester a new group of students staff the clinic. They live, work and study in Fort Kent, experiencing what it means not just to practice as a rural lawyer but to be an integral part of their rural community.  This clinic program aims to help meet the immediate need for lawyers in northern Maine while also training new lawyers to serve rural communities throughout the state and beyond.

More than half of Maine’s lawyers are located in Cumberland County. 

Maine Law established the Rural Practice Clinic with bipartisan support from the Maine Legislature and seed investment from the Office of the Maine Attorney General.

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Meet the Professor

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