The Rural Attorney Shortage in Kansas

A few years ago, if you'd asked what kept me up at night, I'd have talked about complex family businesses, succession planning, or a major transaction. Today there's something else on that list. Who's going to do this work twenty years from now?

Across rural America, attorneys are retiring, and in a lot of communities they aren't being replaced. The scale of it has caught the attention of leaders across Kansas. More than 40% of Kansans live in rural communities, but only about 20% of the state's attorneys practice there. More Kansas attorneys work in Kansas City, Missouri than in all of rural Kansas combined.

This isn't an abstract problem to us. One of our attorneys, Paige Harding, serves on the Kansas Rural Justice Initiative Committee, a statewide group studying the shortage and looking for solutions. Its work helped lead to recent legislation that created tuition assistance and loan repayment programs to draw young attorneys into rural practice.

The numbers explain part of it. Law school enrollment has shifted. Young professionals are pulled toward metro areas. Rural firms struggle to recruit and keep new lawyers. But the statistics miss the real cost, because this isn't really an attorney shortage.

It's a community shortage.

When a town loses its attorney, it doesn't just lose someone who drafts wills and reviews contracts. It loses a trusted advisor. It loses the person who sits across the table during hard family conversations, helps a young entrepreneur open the doors, and guides a farm family through a transition generations in the making. In rural communities, attorneys wear a lot of hats. They're school board members, chamber volunteers, coaches, church members, and nonprofit leaders. They're woven into the fabric of the places they serve. When they disappear, the effects ripple far past the legal profession.

I've spent most of my career with families and business owners across Kansas, and the thing I keep relearning is that relationships still matter. Technology is changing how we work. Artificial intelligence is changing how information gets delivered. But some conversations still happen best across a table, especially when family, land, legacy, and livelihood are all on it.

That's why the next generation gives me real optimism. At Kennedy Berkley we've made a deliberate investment in young attorneys. Through programs like Third-Year Anywhere, we've worked alongside future lawyers before they've even graduated. We've watched talented people choose rural communities not because they had to, but because they wanted to. They see the opportunity. They see the impact. And they understand something that's easy to miss from a distance. Rural communities aren't disappearing. They're evolving. The needs are still here. The businesses, the farms, and the families are still here. What they need are professionals willing to build careers alongside them.

The encouraging part is that people are paying attention. Law schools, bar associations, judges, legislators, and local employers are all working to strengthen the pipeline. Programs and incentives open doors. But what actually keeps a professional in a rural community is the chance to build real relationships, solve real problems, and become part of something larger than themselves. That's what has always drawn people to rural practice, and I believe it will keep drawing the next generation too.

So when we call this an attorney shortage, I think we're naming the wrong thing. It's a community issue, and one worth solving. Every thriving rural town needs people willing to invest their talents where they can make a difference. For me, that's always been Kansas.

And if you're a young lawyer wondering whether there's a place for you out here, there is. Come build it with us.

Written by: James Angell

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This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice specific to your situation, contact Kennedy Berkley directly.