CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Many counties in West Virginia are struggling to find enough lawyers for court-appointed legal work.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia released a report recently from its Commission on the Future of the Practice of Law. That commission’s report found that the number of lawyers in the state is declining, but legal demands are rising.
The number of attorneys in West Virginia has dropped 9.29 percent over the past 12 years while the state’s population has dipped 4.3 percent. According to the report, child abuse and neglect cases increased by over one third during that same period.
State Supreme Court Chief Justice Haley Bunn said on MetroNews “Talkline” last week that the shortage is impacting communities throughout the state.
“We’ve been seeing this problem brewing for several years,” Bunn said. “Kind of anecdotally, judges are saying, ‘I can’t get hearings scheduled because I can’t get enough lawyers to represent everyone in the room that needs representation.'”
Data in the commission’s report outlined those stark realities, Bunn said. The report found 46 of the state’s 55 counties fell under the American Bar Association’s classification as “legal deserts,” when there’s less than one attorney available for every 1,000 residents in those areas.
“We are in a legal desert,” Bunn said. “Everywhere, except a handful of counties. Here in Kanawha County, we do actually have a pretty high concentration of lawyers. But, I do like to note that a lot of those lawyers aren’t able to take appointed cases. They’re lawyers who work under the dome, for the government.”
Around one-fourth of West Virginia private practice lawyers plan to retire in the next five years, and 32 percent of all private practice attorneys take on court-appointed cases. Bunn said there are several reasons why attorneys may not take on private practice cases, and she’s working to change that.
It’s all about incentivizing people to live outside of big areas such as Charleston and Morgantown, she said. Rather than work for a large law firm in a big city, Bunn said, lawyers can run solo practices to help address needs in those rural communities. Bunn said the statutory rate for court-appointed cases, set by the legislature, is $60 for out-of-court work and $80 for court work.
“We do need to show folks that you can make a good living,” Bunn said. “Hanging out a shingle and having that very rewarding, personally and financially rewarding, practice in these rural areas, because the need, the demand is absolutely there.”
The commission’s report found that the state Supreme Court hasn’t done a great job highlighting the rural work, Bunn said, but they’re working to change that. She said they’re working with the West Virginia University College of Law, having the school partner with small and solo practitioners to match attorneys with cases. She pointed out that struggles in rural communities to recruit help is not limited to legal services; the medical community has experienced issues there as well.
Bunn cited a rising number of child abuse and neglect cases as a “huge need” that needs attention. She pointed out that in those cases, it often isn’t as simple as having one court-appointed lawyer to represent the defendant facing charges for an alleged crime.
“In a case like that, you often have more than one respondent parent; each one of those folks has to have an appointed counsel,” Bunn said. “You need a Guardian ad Litem to represent the interests of the kids. Sometimes there are multiple sets of kids with different interests, and you might need multiple guardians.”
Bunn said she loves recruiting people to come into the courtroom and get involved in the legal community. There are plenty of initiatives in place to spark interest in the law, she said. In Wayne County, circuit judges held a program for a handful of students to get intensive experience, Bunn noted.
Throughout the state, other judges have mock trial programs. Bunn said that the state Supreme Court does law programs in each term of court, where they go to a high school, hear real arguments from real lawyers, and take questions from students.
This October, Bunn said she’s excited to return home to Wyoming County. The High Court will hear arguments at Westside High School in Clear Fork.
All in all, the state Supreme Court is doing all they can to get people into the law and public service, Bunn reported.
Additionally, the detailed report recommended West Virginia to take another look at its cut score for passing the bar. Bunn said they’re working to get a new bar exam for next year. Along with that, she said they’re trying to create more opportunities to be sworn in to the bar and streamline the whole process.
Bunn maintained the need for attorneys in the state, a demand that won’t go away.
“People assume that there’s too many lawyers,” Bunn said. “I also think that people assume, ‘well, AI is going to be my lawyer in five years.’ Neither one of those things is true. An AI bot can’t go into a courtroom and represent you when you’re accused of a crime, or your constitutional rights are otherwise at play. We’ve got to have a person do that.”
The recommendations from the Commission will be reviewed and discussed among the state Supreme Court, West Virginia State Bar, WVU College of Law, and lawmakers in the months to come.