GREAT FALLS — Attorneys say a proposed law school in Great Falls could help address a growing shortage of legal professionals across the region.
Representatives from Touro Law School have been exploring the possibility of bringing a program to Great Falls and recently connected with members of the Cascade County Bar Association to gauge interest and discuss the community’s legal needs.
Amber Henning, past president of the Cascade County Bar Association, said representatives from Touro reached out to the organization as part of their early outreach efforts.
“They had reached out to the Bar Association to kind of get a read on the attorneys in our county as far as bringing a law school into Great Falls,” Henning said.
Henning met with representatives from the school to learn more about the program and helped connect them with other attorneys in the area. She also helped organize opportunities for local lawyers to meet with the school’s representatives.
“I met with representatives from the Touro Law School, learned more about their program and the things that they wanted to bring to Great Falls,” Henning said. “I helped them meet with other attorneys in Great Falls, as well as meet and greets with our entire bar association to just learn more about the program and what they can offer our students.”
Henning said the conversations come at a time when the legal profession in Great Falls and across eastern Montana is facing a shortage of attorneys. Many practicing lawyers are approaching retirement age, while fewer young attorneys are moving to rural communities to start their careers.
“Great Falls and all of eastern Montana needs more attorneys and we are desperate to find attorneys who want to come here and open up a practice or join a practice, especially younger attorneys as our demographics get older and older,” Henning said.
She said the shortage is already affecting access to legal services in the community. Areas such as family law, wills and estates, probate litigation and land use law are particularly in need of more attorneys.
“The legal needs are really high in this community and eastern Montana in general,” Henning said. “We need more attorneys to help out with land use, wills and estates, probate litigation, family law, we desperately need more family law attorneys, and attorneys who are just willing to help out their neighbors.”
Henning said bringing a law school to Great Falls could help encourage more people to pursue legal careers while also attracting professionals who want to practice in the region.
One feature she said could make the program appealing is a hybrid learning model proposed by Touro. The school has discussed offering a format that combines online coursework with in-person instruction.
“The model that they’re offering is very unique in that it’s a hybrid, half online, half in person,” Henning said. “I think it will really work well for people who are already established in a career and want to make a career shift or enhance their career, people who have families.”
Henning said that type of structure could make law school more accessible for working professionals and people living in rural areas who might not otherwise be able to relocate for a traditional program.
While discussions are still in early stages, Henning said the legal community is hopeful about the potential benefits the program could bring to Great Falls and the surrounding region.
She added that practicing law in the area has been rewarding and that she hopes more attorneys will choose to build their careers in the community.
“Being an attorney is a privilege, one that I’m so honored to have,” Henning said. “And being an attorney in Great Falls is even better. I love this community, and I hope that we can get more attorneys who want to call this place home.”
There is currently no word yet from Touro on whether the proposed program in Great Falls will move forward or what the potential timeline for a decision might be.
