Maine Law Review symposium: Ensuring Equal Access to Justice for Rural Maine

It was my great honor to participate in this symposium yesterday and today in Waterville, Maine, hosted by Colby College and Maine Law School.  A highlight was the inclusion of attorneys and judges from across Maine, including from remote places with exotic sounding names like Piscataquis County (population 17,000), Calais (population 3,123), and Presque Isle (population 9,078).  A photo of the participants in the panel on Ensuring Access to Justice in Maine's Rural Communities is shown here (with speakers from Presque Isle, Dover-Foxcroft, Camden and Fort Kent, and a moderator with Pine Tree Legal Services): 

Maine Law students who have been the beneficiaries of rural fellowships that have permitted them to work with practitioners in some of these rural communities were also present.  Sadly, that two-year rural fellowships program is coming to a close--in part because of a widespread sense that the Maine Law School does not deserve funding for such enterprises when it primarily educates students to work in Portland (the largest city, population about 65,000), where they earn hefty salaries.  Kudos to Maine Law Review editors Mac Walton and Hannah Wurgaft for putting together this really terrific event.  It was also edifying to see and meet audience members from around Maine, including non lawyers who simply care about their state.

Highlights from academic speakers included Maybell Romero's talk on race/ethnicity and prosecution in the mostly white state of Maine; Nicole Huberfeld's talk on rural health care delivery in relation to universal norms; and Hannah Haksgaard's talk on rural practice as public interest.   I believe that the video-recording of the entire conference will ultimately be available online.