When University of Tennessee Winston College of Law student Savannah Grant began her fellowship in Tennessee’s 10th Judicial District, she was unsure how the experience would differ from her previous legal internships in Manhattan. There, she had grown accustomed to a legal culture that felt impersonal and transactional. But from her very first day in the 10th District when Chancellor Jerri Bryant welcomed her with lunch and an open conversation about her future, Grant realized she had entered a different kind of legal community. Here, professionalism was rooted in relationships, mentorship was intentional and the courtroom felt less like a machine and more like a cornerstone of the community.

“To me, practicing law will always have connections with others at the center of it,” she says. “Although urban areas have tons of people, this experience has shown me there is more community in rural areas.

Similarly, Belmont University College of Law student Harry Crane reflects on his experience in Dyer County after growing up in Detroit. He jokes about how residents would purposefully over-pronounce “Detroit,” but that this lighthearted teasing was coupled with invites to Fourth of July celebrations, duck hunts and dinners. He says that “this close-knit environment fostered numerous friendly interactions” during his fellowship.

These experiences are contrasted with students like Charlie Pritchett who grew up in Fentress County on the Cumberland Plateau. She started law school at Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law (LMU Law) with the aim to serve people and communities throughout Appalachia, saying “my passion lies in helping rural people and the environment.”

While each fellowship was different, all six fellows concluding their Rural Judicial Fellowship (RJF) echo the same sentiments. The program, which just wrapped its inaugural year, is a product of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division (TBA YLD). The RJF places rising 2L and 3L Tennessee law students with rural trial judges for a summer judicial internship, pairing experiential learning with a unique opportunity to explore careers in Tennessee’s rural legal communities.

With its focus on skills development, community service and rural pipeline building, the RJF offers a meaningful step toward addressing one our profession’s ongoing challenges: ensuring access to justice in Tennessee’s rural communities.

A STATEWIDE NEED, A TARGETED RESPONSE

Legal deserts are defined as a community having less than one attorney per 1,000 residents. Across Tennessee’s rural communities, legal deserts continue to grow as attorneys retire and law students seek competitive pay in Tennessee’s growing metropolitan areas. The state’s Department of Economic and Community Development categorizes 78 of Tennessee’s 95 counties as rural, with 2.6 million of the state’s 6.9 million people living in rural communities.¹ Tennessee’s rural residents, including indigent criminal defendants, are rapidly losing access to lawyers which means losing access to justice. To help foster growth in rural legal communities, the TBA YLD partnered with Tennessee’s rural judges to create a pipeline program from law school to rural judicial districts, founding the Tennessee Rural Judicial Fellowship.

Tennessee’s rural counties are experiencing a shortage of legal professionals. Pritchett notes, “I was keenly aware how deeply socio-economic issues played into the court system, and how those same socio-economic issues played a key part in even the smallest details of a case.”

Rural judges often manage heavy dockets while traveling multi-county circuits, and local attorneys are frequently among the few practitioners serving their communities, requiring them to take on appointed cases and maintain a broad, versatile practice across multiple areas of law. Both judges and attorneys in rural communities balance the demands of their work with a deep commitment to mentoring future lawyers while also carrying the weight of concern for the profession’s long-term sustainability in their regions.

After working with Judge Hayes in Dyer County, Crane noted that “nearly every private practicing attorney must be well-versed in multiple legal disciplines … This versatility is essential due to the limited number of attorneys in these areas.”

Fellow Jillian McGauley, a student at LMU Law, echoes that theme from her time in Marshall County: “There are not many lawyers, meaning that the legal practitioners there practice a little bit of everything,” she observes. “Both the lawyers and the court itself must remain flexible.”

And fellow M. Clark Hill from Belmont University College of Law adds “within a day’s work, a judge within a rural community can achieve a great number of things which can have an immediate, definable effect on those around them.” Of the judges he shadowed during his fellowship, “one aspect persisted among each of them: a community-focused approach to justice.”

The RJF includes not just courtroom exposure, but also a required service project and a culminating reflective essay to promote engagement in the rural community and deepen learning. Though each student’s placement varies in setting and caseload, the fellowship’s core impact is consistent: it immerses students in rural legal practice, helping them recognize the unique rewards of serving these communities. For many, the experience increases the likelihood they’ll return to rural areas after graduation. For all, it fosters a deeper empathy and lasting awareness of the challenges rural communities face.

PROFILES IN PRACTICE: 2025 FELLOWS AND JUDGES

The 2025 class of Rural Judicial Fellows was diverse in background, interest and geographic placement. Each student had the opportunity to not only observe proceedings but also engage with case law, draft bench memos or orders, and see firsthand how rural courts function, often under challenging logistical circumstances but with extraordinary adaptability. Grant emphasizes the impact of being treated as a full professional-in-training from day one, saying, “It felt like a sense of community that I had not experienced yet in the legal field.”

Crane also highlighted the unique relationship dynamics between the bench and bar in Dyersburg: “In the Dyer County courthouse, attorneys and judges work closely together, which creates more camaraderie, mutual respect and less conflict over minor issues … It also has been my observation that this collaborative environment reduces burnout and creates a pleasant workplace.”

Hill notes that the collegial relationship between small town attorneys is good not only for professional well-being but is also to the benefit of clients. “Both attorneys plainly had a great deal of respect and admiration for the other — and that was for good reason,” he notes of a trial he witnessed, adding that good working relationships with other attorneys is “an important aspect of the institution as it provides an opportunity for an attorney to serve as the most effective advocate for their client’s position.”

McGauley found that this sense of community extended beyond just lawyers and judges, stating that “between the probation officers, law enforcement judges, there is a friendship and mutual understanding.” Such access to mentorship, advice and informal networks is often harder to find in larger legal markets. In rural communities, by contrast, these professional bonds are not only more accessible but often expected, forming part of a broader commitment to collegiality and trust.

HANDS-ON LEARNING IN THE RURAL COURTS

Through her work on judicial orders and rule revisions, Grant gained insights into both the technical and human aspects of legal practice. She was tasked with drafting proposed orders based on Chancellor Bryant’s rulings. She notes this was a challenge at first, but one that quickly sharpened her writing and analysis. “I had never written a judicial order before and I was being thrown right into it,” she said, but “once I had written a few, I started to get an idea of what one was supposed to look like, and I believe it has made my legal writing and research skills immensely better from when I started this fellowship.”

Crane’s experience emphasized the importance of clarity and storytelling in legal arguments. “In oral arguments, I learned that banging on the podium adds no persuasive value, whereas clear articulation of issues and supporting reasons enhances effectiveness,” he says. “For direct and cross-examinations, compelling storytelling is key.” He recounted a sentencing hearing where a public defender guided a client with a severe stutter to share a powerful narrative of trauma and rehabilitation, a strategy that helped the judge impose a more lenient sentence. “This strategy secured a more favorable sentence, demonstrating the impact of a wellcrafted narrative,” Crane reflects.

McGauley had the opportunity to co-author an article with Judge Lee Bussart on rural mental health solutions. And Hill discovered that Judge Caleb Bayless’ career path followed a similar path Clark hoped to take, saying “the opportunity to be exposed not only to his legal expertise, but also his personal experience, proved to be invaluable.” Just as important were the informal lessons. Grant noted how lawyers in the district modeled professionalism through mutual respect, camaraderie and preparedness: “While in the courtroom, I learned that lawyers should always take responsibility for their mistakes rather than making excuses, be prepared when you make an appearance and be in communication with the court if they are running late.”

For all participants, the RJF underscored how rural legal practice is not a “fallback option,” but a vibrant, impactful and fulfilling path.

RURAL SERVICE IN ACTION

Each fellow completed a public service project in their host judicial district, reinforcing the program’s mission to develop both legal skills and a strong commitment to community engagement. Grant, who has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for a number of years, chose to serve at the Habitat ReStore in Cleveland. Her observations surprised her: the rural store had more donations and full-time staff than any she’d previously seen in urban areas, a testament to local engagement and generosity.

Crane’s project took a more historical turn, inspired by a forgotten portrait in Judge Hayes’ chambers. “We discovered a large portrait of Jimmy Gardner, a local war hero … I proposed displaying his portrait, medal and two plaques in the courthouse,” he shares. Crane helped relocate the memorial to the main hallway. “This placement serves as a memorial and inspiration for all who pass through the justice system in Dyer County.”

McGauley joined the probation office for DUI School on a Saturday, engaging with participants in powerful group activities and reflection. The experience, coupled with McGauley’s work in Judge Bussart’s Recovery Court, helped her reimagine what her future career might look like. “I knew that this was what I wanted my career to be about,” she says. “I do not want my service to my community as a lawyer to begin and end with representation. I want it to extend beyond that, to making sure that people actually get the help they need.”

Fellow Isabella Turner also had the opportunity to observe recovery court, noting that “Judge Blake Neill genuinely and passionately cares about individuals in recovery court. Specifically, he is invested in their path to recovery and stated that his favorite part of his job is aiding in this process. I greatly admire Judge Neill because he not only cares about these individuals themselves, but also the community in which they live.”

Additionally, Pritchett got a firsthand look at the impact of rural specialty courts. “I have not seen passion shine half so bright as it does within the Recovery Court Program,” she says, adding, “I hope to take this level of community outreach and involvement with me to my future career.” Such service projects deepen students’ ties to the communities they serve and offer a window into rural life beyond the courtroom, strengthening the fellowship’s efforts to build a lasting pipeline to rural practice.

BUILDING THE RURAL PIPELINE

The Rural Judicial Fellowship aligns with a growing national conversation about the urgent need to support rural legal pipelines to water our legal deserts forming outside of urban areas. From judicial clerkships and bar association initiatives to state-funded incentive programs, stakeholders across the country are grappling with how to incentivize early-career attorneys to consider and commit to practice outside major metropolitan areas.

Tennessee is no exception. The state’s Access to Justice Commission, its pro bono infrastructure and its bar associations have all spotlighted the attorney shortage in rural regions. But raising awareness alone isn’t enough. Addressing the issue requires immersive experiences that combine education, mentorship and realworld exposure.

That’s exactly what the RJF delivers. By providing students with a tangible, supported and often deeply personal introduction to rural lawyering, the program replaces abstract encouragement with concrete opportunity. Students leave not just better prepared, but often more eager to pursue rural careers.

“Getting to know this area allowed me to become familiar so that when the time comes for me to begin my practice, going somewhere like Athens or Cleveland will not be so brand new and daunting,” says Grant. “My experience in Dyersburg has convinced me that I could thrive as a legal practitioner in a rural community,” Crane states. “This experience not only met but exceeded my expectations, revealing the unique advantages of small-town life and legal practice.” And from Hill, who says, “Through taking part in this fellowship, one thing has become certain: there is nothing else I would rather be than a small-town, rural lawyer.”

LOOKING AHEAD

From left: Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby, Justice Sarah Campbell, Turner, Justice Jeff Bivins, Grant, Justice Mary Wagner, Pritchett, Crane, McGauley, Hill, Alix Rogers, Hon. Zachary Walden, Justice Dwight Tarwater and Hon. Alex McVeagh at the 2025 TBA Annual Convention.

As the RJF continues to grow, the TBA YLD hopes to expand its reach, deepen alumni engagement and advocate for broader institutional support. Participating judges report meaningful interactions, greater visibility into legal education and renewed optimism about the future of rural practice. At TBA’s Annual Convention in June, the 2025 fellows were recognized by the Tennessee Supreme Court, a sign of both the court’s endorsement of the program and its commitment to addressing the rural attorney shortage. The justices took time to share their own personal backgrounds and connections to rural Tennessee and asked students about their passion for serving these rural communities.

The legal community is beginning to take notice. But perhaps the most powerful endorsements come from the students themselves who now view rural Tennessee not just as a training ground but also as a place to build a life and a practice. “I observed the kindness and adaptability that the lawyers in the rural community exhibited for one another,” Grant reflects.

“Despite my urban background in Detroit and Nashville, I now cherish the simplicity, hospitality and professional opportunities of small-town life,” Crane states. “I’m hopeful for building a future in a community like Dyersburg.”

McGauley says, “I have never been more excited to be a lawyer.” |||

HON. ZACHARY R. WALDEN is the Criminal Court judge for Tennessee’s 8th Judicial District and also presides over Recovery Court and Veterans Treatment Court. Judge Walden currently serves as secretary for the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, chair of the Tennessee Pattern Jury Instructions (Criminal) Committee, and member of the Tennessee Supreme Court Technology Oversight Committee. He is also an adjunct professor at LMU Law.

ALIX ROGERS is the director of career and professional development at Belmont University College of Law. She currently serves as the Middle Tennessee governor for the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and as the Tennessee Young Lawyer delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates.

NOTE

1. www.tn.gov/rural/other-resources/ruraleconomic-dashboard.html