Do lawyer incentive programs alleviate rural legal deserts? Evidence from South Dakota's project rural practice

Persistent gaps in access to legal services remain a persistent challenge in many rural areas, contributing to what has been termed the "rural legal desert" phenomenon. A lack of attorneys in these regions limits access to justice and places additional burdens on individuals seeking legal representation. In response, various states have implemented incentive programs aimed at attracting and retaining lawyers in rural communities. This study evaluates the effectiveness of one such initiative by analyzing the impact of South Dakota’s Project Rural Practice (PRP) program. The PRP program was established by the South Dakota Legislature in 2013 and made permanent in 2019. The program provides financial incentives to attorneys who commit to practicing in eligible rural counties for at least five years. To assess the program’s effectiveness, we employ a difference-in-differences design, comparing trends in the number of lawyers and law offices per capita in rural South Dakota before and after the program’s implementation. We benchmark these changes against two alternative control groups: (1) rural counties in neighboring Iowa and Nebraska, which lacked a similar incentive program, and (2) non-rural areas within South Dakota. Our analysis leverages 20 years of annual firm-level data from the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) alongside sociodemographic data from the USDA Rural Atlas. By isolating the impact of PRP, this study contributes empirical evidence to the broader discussion on addressing legal service shortages in rural areas. Findings will provide insights into whether financial incentives can sustainably increase the presence of rural attorneys, improve access to legal services, and serve as a viable policy model for other states facing similar challenges. The results have implications for policymakers, legal professionals, and rural communities by offering a data-driven evaluation of strategies aimed at reducing geographic disparities in legal representation.