INDIANAPOLIS — New action is underway to address the state’s attorney shortage, a growing problem revealed by WRTV Investigates.
49 counties in Indiana are considered a “legal desert,” which is when a county has less than 1 attorney for every 1,000 residents.
“It’s to the point where a lot of people don’t realize they have a legal problem, so they don’t even know they have to fight it because there’s no one in their community to talk to and ask what they can do,” said Justin Forkner, Chief Administrative Officer of the Indiana Supreme Court. “In that case, the system crushes them.”
WRTV Investigates found that the attorney shortage means trials drag on, people spend longer in jail than they should, and delayed justice costs taxpayers.
Do you live in a legal desert? See the interactive map below:
Following our investigation, Attorney Shortage, the state created the Commission on Indiana’s Legal Future to study the issue.
The state panel just released this 74-page preliminary report with recommendations to the Indiana Supreme Court and the Indiana Legislature.
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Among the ideas – financial support for lawyers willing to practice in legal desserts, including:
- Help with student loans
- Subsidy for the start-up of a law firm
“Giving them money, giving them support, helping them learn how to start a business,” said Hon. Nancy Vaidik, co-chair of the Commission on Indiana’s Legal Future. “We don’t learn that at law school. We learn evidence, we learn contracts, we don’t learn how to start a business.”
Another proposed solution – allowing “Allied Legal Professionals” to represent people in court and provide legal services in certain situations instead of lawyers.
“We’re not going to lawyer our way out of this,” Forkner said. “We need to find someone else to fill those gaps.”
WRTV
Forkner said you can think of it like the medical field.
“When you go to a doctor’s office, sometimes you see a physician’s assistant or a nurse practitioner,” Forkner said.
The Commission on Indiana’s Legal Future is also pushing to improve technology in county jails and other detention facilities so defendants can appear remotely.
“So that attorneys can have a pretrial conference in one county, and then 45 minutes later have to run to another county pretrial conference,” Vaidik said. “There’s just no reason why this can’t be done externally.”
The state is also looking at updating its technology so that artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots can help answer citizens’ legal questions.
Other recommendations in the report include:
- Fund scholarships for incoming law students who commit to practice in Indiana for a period of years after graduation
- Provide startup funding to law firms using a non-profit business model
- Encourage the creation of a statewide legal incubator program that sets up new lawyers for success as business owners and managers
- Supplementary funds for legal aid organisations
- Rural Development Matching Grants to provide targeted tax relief to lawyers in rural areas
- Funding to reduce the cost of dual enrollment programs for students
- Loosen restrictions on municipal lawyer services
The Indiana Supreme Court and the Indiana Legislature will now look at the next steps, including how to pay for these solutions.
Photo provided/Kara Kenney
Forkner said you may see changes in your community in the next few years.
“You can see a law firm on Main Street where now there’s just an empty building,” Forkner said. “I think that would be great.”
SEE | Addressing Indiana’s Lawyer Shortage
Addressing Indiana’s Lawyer Shortage
You can submit your thoughts on the state’s lawyer shortage here by September 13.
The Commission will publish its final report in July 2025.