Abstract

The purpose of this project is to develop strategies within the undergraduate law curriculum to prepare and attract lawyers and other legal professionals for legal careers in rural and regional Australia. The project seeks to first understand what factors distinguish rural and regional legal practice as a career option, and then to examine how the law school curriculum might embed strategies to expose students to, and prepare them for such career pathways. The research aims to parallel the success of similar targeted initiatives in medical and teacher education, where the point of entry to the profession (i.e. the tertiary education and training phase) is actively engaged to form part of the solution for a growing concern both within the legal profession, and in rural and regional communities.