Program bringing law students to rural communities marks 10 years, 400 fellowships
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Maria Duvuvuei
Communications Strategist
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WASHINGTON – When Hurricane Harvey struck her Texas hometown in 2017, Ana Laurel was away at law school in Arizona. A year later, an opportunity came up to help her neighbors recover from the storm’s lasting damage.
Through the Indian Legal Program at Arizona State University, Laurel heard about the Rural Summer Legal Corps (RSLC), a fellowship program that places law students with legal services organizations in underserved rural areas.
“It really felt like a blessing, to have the opportunity to apply to a legal aid organization...and get to go home and help my community,” Laurel shared.
Laurel spent the summer at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, working on disaster law cases, helping Texans who had survived Hurricane Harvey. Her clients needed help with applications or appeals for disaster relief, insurance claims, document replacement and housing issues.
Laurel is one of more than 400 law students who have spent their summers with legal services organizations since RSLC began 10 years ago. She now serves as a staff attorney with the same Texas-based legal services organization and as a site supervisor for RSLC fellows, who are starting out just like she did.
Offered through the Legal Services Corporation and Equal Justice Works, RSLC fellows have served over 14,000 rural community members between 2016 and 2025.
Rural Americans face the same civil legal problems as the rest of the country — issues related to domestic violence, natural disasters, housing and financial security — but often experience more barriers to accessing legal assistance. Research indicates that as many as 41% of counties in the U.S. qualify as legal deserts, meaning they have few or no lawyers serving their community’s residents. Additionally, a lack of reliable internet and technology, distance and transportation challenges, and unique needs of the local community can create steep barriers to getting legal help when people need it.
This is an issue LSC has studied extensively, according to Ron Flagg, the organization’s president. As the nation's largest funder of civil legal services, LSC supports a network of 129 legal service organizations. In rural areas, 1 in 5 households meet the income requirements to qualify for LSC-funded free legal help, a higher rate than households in urban and suburban areas.
"For years, we've been studying what works and how to make sure rural Americans get the help they need," Flagg said. "RSLC is a leading example of how we can expand capacity for legal services organizations, while also encouraging the next generation of lawyers to engage with the rural justice gap.”
RSLC began in 2016 with a class of 30 rural fellows spread across 27 nonprofit legal organizations. Through the combined efforts of LSC and EJW, the program has increased its footprint over time. This year, 50 student fellows are mobilizing in 42 rural organizations across 29 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"Equal Justice Works and Legal Services Corporation launched the Rural Summer Legal Corps a decade ago because every American deserves access to justice, regardless of their zip code,” said EJW CEO Verna Williams. “Over the past 10 years, RSLC has provided legal services to thousands of people in rural communities across the country while sparking promising careers in public interest law. We are proud to partner with Legal Services Corporation to invest in those future advocates, meet people where they are, and close the justice gap."
RSLC fellows spend their summer providing direct legal services to clients and contributing to community outreach and public education initiatives. Their work is supported by LSC’s private fundraising initiative.
As an attorney who grew up in a rural community, Laurel sees the program as drawing on the strengths rural residents already have.
“A lot of the clients I’ve worked with have done a lot to kind of make it happen for themselves,” she said, drawing a contrast to the resources often available in big cities. “And then they come to us, and that same way of finding alternative ways to do things inspires us to find alternative ways, through the law, to find relief for them."
“I think that’s what I love about this work so much, is that it’s never boring,” she continued. “It’s never the same day twice. It’s always something different, and it’s always pushing me to be a better advocate and a better attorney.”