Consider that there is a low population density, low earnings, and in most cases already at least three resident attorneys who maintain a private practice in addition to filling the roles of judge, prosecutor and defender. Most folks only get divorced once or twice in a lifetime if ever. Most only go through estate planning or draft a will once or twice during a lifetime. When family income is less than $35,000 annually most folks do not buy and sell property more than a few times during their lifetime - and many who do do not require the services of an attorney. Most folks do not require the services of personal injury attorneys - and if they do it is usually a once in a lifetime event. Most folks do not ever face serious criminal charges. A lot of folks are injured on the job but many never seek legal advice for a number of reasons - not the least of which is fear that retalitory actions will be taken and they will lose thier job.
Assume there are 4,000 families residing in the county. Assume each family will reqire some legal service every 10 years (that is a fairly generous assumption by the time you account for the young and old who often require no services at all). That means that 400 families in the county will need legal services during a given year. Assume that those clients are equallly divided among 4 attorneys. Each attorney will have 100 clients during the year. Assume that the average fee earned and **collected** from each client is $500. That results in gross earnings of $50,000. Now reduce that sum for required profewssional dues, required continuing legal education (and the required travel to participate in such programs), malpractice insurance, maintance of library and research materials required to offer services, office maintance, supplies, and any necessary secretarial or other professional services (investigators, online data access or research capabilities). Now pay your taxes. It doesn't take long to figure out that you are taking on substantial personal responsibility and risk while earning comparatively little compensation. Now adjust for the fact that you are an outsider without established ties within the community, without a reputation there as an attorney, and without a court appointment as judge, prosecutor or public defender. For reasons stated in an earlier post I really cannot think of a better way to lose money than to move to the middle of nowhere and begin a law practice.
Consider the following population statistics on Izard county in Arkansas:
"As of the census of 2000, there were 13,249 people, 5,440 households, and 3,769 families residing in the county. The population density was 9/km² (23/mi²). There were 6,591 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (11/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.41% White, 1.44% Black or African American, 0.63% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. 1.00% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 5,440 households out of which 25.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.70% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.70% were non-families. 27.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.78.
In the county the population was spread out with 20.90% under the age of 18, 7.10% from 18 to 24, 25.00% from 25 to 44, 25.80% from 45 to 64, and 21.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 102.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $25,670, and the median income for a family was $32,313. Males had a median income of $22,389 versus $18,450 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,397. About 13.60% of families and 17.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.40% of those under age 18 and 13.70% of those age 65 or over."
Data is from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izard_County,_ArkansasThs is not at all uncommon for rural counties. You will find similar data for
McDonald county Missouri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald_County,_MissouriKingman country, Kansas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingman_County%2C_KansasNowata county, Oklahoma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowata_County%2C_OklahomaHaskell county, Oklahoma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskell_County,_OklahomaLee county, Arkansas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_County%2C_ArkansasMaries county, Missouri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maries_County%2C_MissouriBledsoe county, Tennessee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bledsoe_County%2C_TennesseeDeKalb county, Tennessee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeKalb_County%2C_TennesseePerry county, Tennessee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_County%2C_Tennessee
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