In 2019, I devoted this space to the serious concerns and challenges related to providing access to justice for all New Yorkers, with a focus on the unique obstacles present in our rural communities. As Presiding Justice of the Third Department, which includes just over half of New York’s land area and many rural regions, I have continued to observe and hear from practitioners that circumstances have continued to decline. Rural communities are facing a legal representation crisis.

As I noted in my previous column, the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) convened a Task Force on Rural Justice, co-chaired by my Third Department colleague Hon. Stan Pritzker, and attorney Taier Perlman. The report, which was adopted by NYSBA in April 2020, utilized empirical and anecdotal survey data gathered by Albany Law School’s Government Law Center, as well as other resources, to describe the impacts of the rural representation crisis and offer some potential solutions (Report of the NYSBA Task Force on Rural Justice (April 2020); Taier Perlman, “Rural Law Practice in New York State” (April 2019)).

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