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Expanding Access to Justice in Rural Communities: Highlights from the 2022 RSLC Class
/ Blog Post
Access to legal aid in in rural communities across the United States has been a long-standing challenge. Low-income and under-resourced residents in rural communities are often forced to travel great distances to find much-needed legal services. In fact, a staggering 92% of low-income Americans are not getting any or enough legal help for their civil legal problems.
In response to this issue, Equal Justice Works first partnered with Legal Services Corporation (LSC) in 2016 to offer opportunities for law students to improve access to justice in rural communities through the Rural Summer Legal Corps (RSLC). The RSLC has provided opportunities for law students to respond to the shortage of legal aid in rural communities every summer since.
Last summer, Student Fellows in the RSLC spent eight to ten weeks providing direct legal services and engaging in community outreach and education. Selected from 330 applications, the 2022 class of RSLC Student Fellows included 40 Student Fellows who served at 37 LSC-funded civil legal organizations across the country. During their summer of service, Student Fellows collectively contributed 11,888 hours to help rural communities attain access to legal aid, with 4,510 hours spent on direct legal services! Their efforts helped a total of 3,999 individuals, and they assisted on 891 legal cases.
My host organization entrusted me with complex, interesting, and meaningful work."
Aaron Schaffer-Neitz /
2022 RSLC Student Fellow
“My host organization entrusted me with complex, interesting, and meaningful work,” said Aaron Schaffer-Neitz, a third-year law student at Stanford Law School and a 2022 RSLC Student Fellow. “At no point did I feel like I was given busy work. I’m hopeful that the work I performed this summer will meaningfully improve the lives of farmworkers.”
Student Fellows provided legal aid in a wide variety of issues, such as affordable housing and evictions, domestic violence, education, farmworkers’ rights, and family law matters in Native American communities and tribes. Of the 38 RSLC participants surveyed, 84% said that their experiences throughout the Student Fellowship increased their interest in working with similar client bases in the future.
By working with both legal aid and tribal attorneys, I was able to learn about the nuances of tribal law and jurisdictional complexities between different legal systems."
Kelsey Gunvalson /
2022 RSLC Student Fellow
“By working with both legal aid and tribal attorneys, I was able to learn about the nuances of tribal law and jurisdictional complexities between different legal systems,” said Kelsey Gunvalson, a second-year student at the University of Wisconsin Law School and 2022 RSLC Student Fellow.
Additionally, the 2022 RSLC class of Student Fellows participated in 177 outreach events and created 129 collaborations with community partnerships. Their efforts resulted in 3337 individuals receiving informational legal services, such as resource materials, Know Your Rights trainings, and fact sheets.
The best part of my experience was getting to represent my own client and win a case before I become a 2L."
Samantha Beauchamp /
2022 RSLC Student Fellow
“The best part of my experience was getting to represent my own client and win a case before I become a 2L,” said Samantha Beauchamp, second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School and 2022 RSLC Student Fellow. “While most interns their 1L summer are doing a lot of research and writing, I got to do that, and represent clients to grow my interpersonal communication.”
Despite the challenge of several Student Fellows working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 RSLC Student Fellows were still about to explore their passion for service and foster positive outcomes for the clients they served. Following their summer of service, 92% of Student Fellows felt that their legal knowledge had increased from their Fellowships, and 79% said participating in the RSLC had increased their passion for public interest law. 95% of Student Fellows walked away from their summer of service feeling that their experience in the RSLC prepared them for post-graduate legal work.
“I learned that if you have wonderful colleagues, you can feel supported doing public interest work that can otherwise be draining,” said Tara Blackwell, a second-year student at Washington and Lee University School of Law and 2022 RSLC Student Fellow. “I also got to interact directly with clients, and it showed me the impact the civil legal aid makes.”
For more information about the Rural Summer Legal Corps, such as program eligibility and requirements, please visit here. To become a 2023 RSLC Student Fellow, apply by 11:59 p.m. ET on February 14, 2023.