North Dakota Rural Justice
Clerkship Program: Bringing
lawyers to areas in need
By Kylie Blanchard, Clearwater Communications
The North Dakota Rural Justice Clerkship Program (Rural Clerkship
Program) began through a joint effort of the state courts, the
University of North Dakota (UND) School of Law, and the State
Bar Association of North Dakota (SBAND). Established in 2014,
the program was created to expose law students to opportunities
available in the state’s rural communities and to address a growing
shortage of law professionals in rural North Dakota.
In the summers of 2014 and 2015, funding was made available
through legislative appropriation for the State Judiciary to select
and fund up to three students in judicial clerkships. In 2016, when
many state agencies were tightening their budgets, SBAND stepped
in to fund the students for summer 2016 to continue the program.
Starting with summer 2017, SBAND committed $12,000 a year to
fund the Rural Clerkship Program going forward.
In an effort to stabilize and grow the program, the 2018 application
process will take place in April and students will be encouraged
to apply for the available judicial clerkships through the UND
School of Law’s Externship Program. All qualified students will be
encouraged to apply for the Rural Clerkship Program, and funding
will be used to offset the cost of tuition and cost of living in a rural
community.
Bringing Lawyers to Rural Communities
When the Rural Clerkship Program began in 2014, three North
Dakota counties had no resident attorneys, six counties had only
one resident attorney, and seven counties had two resident attorneys.
In 16 counties, 20 attorneys served more than 54,000 people living
across 19,000 square miles.1 The program was strongly supported by
Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle, who brought the need to address
the shortage of rural lawyers to the attention of the State Legislature.
Second-year law student Jacqueline Bergstrom, left, working with
attorney Misty Nehring, right, through a summer field placement at the
Williston Public Defenders office.
Trish Hodny, interim director of Externship Programs at the UND
School of Law, says the Rural Clerkship Program targets both first-
and second-year law students. “The students are going into rural
communities and are working directly with judges,” she says. “What
they see from the bench gives them more of a 360-degree view of
what types of cases judges see in rural communities.”
She says the participating judges have also helped to bring law
students to high-need communities. “The judges in the program
go above and beyond; they have assisted students with finding
temporary summer housing and regularly take them to social events
in the communities,” notes Hodny. “The rural judges have been truly
committed to this program.”
While the program has most recently funded two students per
summer, in the upcoming year, it is expected four to six students
will participate in the program, with awards ranging from $2,000
to $3,000. “It is really about finding the right students to fit the
program,” she says. “Some of the students work through the
Externship Program and others line up the position on their own, but
anyone who is in a qualifying position can apply for the competitive
funding.”
Additional Opportunities
The Rural Clerkship Program is just one of the opportunities available
to draw law students to rural and high-need communities.
The Larson Foundation Summer Rural Justice Scholarship Program,
started in 2015 through generous funding from the Edson and
Margaret Larson Foundation, provides four to six students with
scholarships ranging from $4,000 to $6,000. Each student must work
at least 400 hours in a qualifying position with a public defender,
state’s attorney, or private firm in a North Dakota city other than
Fargo/West Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, or Bismarck/Mandan. In
2017, the Foundation’s Scholarship Program awarded 11 students a
total of $48,000.
Third-year law student Christina Kissinger gained practical
experience through a field placement opportunity with Judge
Joseph Vetsch at the Spirit Lake Tribal Court.
6
THE GAVEL
The Summer Public Interest Work Grant Program, in its 14th year, is
funded through the law school’s endowments and the North Dakota
Bar Foundation. Students work unpaid in public interest agencies
across the United States and receive grants ranging from $1,000 to
$3,000.