A shallow pool of local attorneys impacts Ashland County courts

The number of practicing attorneys nationwide is actually growing, according to the American Bar Association. The ABA states that over the past year, from 2022 to 2023, there were 4,000 more lawyers across the U.S. 

Ohio was among the states who gained the most, with 3,000 new attorneys practicing. 

Over the past decade (2013-2023), there’s been a 5% increase in the number of practicing attorneys — around 63,000. 

Law school enrollments in Ohio started a downward trend in 2011 until they picked up slightly in 2017, according to a report from the Ohio Bar in 2022. Starting in 2020, enrollment numbers began another downward trend. 

Nationally, the numbers look steadier. The ABA reported only a 0.66% decrease in total law school enrollment for Fall 2023.

But in Ashland County, the story is more dramatic, with a decrease in the attorney pool impacting the local courts system.

So what’s the issue, exactly?

The answer lies not within how many but where.

Ohio is among the top 10 states in the nation with the most lawyers, with 37,717.

But Supreme Court of Ohio Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy said 75% of those 37,717 lawyers across practice in Ohio’s six largest counties: Cuyahoga, Summit, Lucas, Franklin, Hamilton and Montgomery.  

That means that 56% of Ohioans are left with too few attorneys to meet their legal needs, she said.

In other words, lawyers — abundant as they may be — are not practicing in the Ashlands of the nation, or more specifically, the state. 

In fact, there were more than 1.3 million practicing lawyers in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2023. A quarter of them, or 27%, are practicing in just two states: New York and California. 

The states losing the most lawyers? Alabama, Alaska and West Virginia — states characterized by rural landscapes and less-dense metro areas. 

‘It’s a huge problem’

Stimpert, along with his counterparts — Ashland Municipal Court Judge John Good and Ashland County Probate Judge Karen DeSanto-Kellogg — recognize the issue.

“It’s a huge problem,” Good said. 

At municipal court, where there were 11,572 cases in 2023, the attorney shortage manifests itself in multiple ways, Good said. 

The 12-year judge said the biggest symptom is constant delay. 

“I’m setting hearings a month further out than I’d like,” Good said.

Municipal court has 11 attorneys as part of its pool willing to take on court-appointed cases. Of those, Good said he can count on four to consistently take the cases.

When there’s delay, costs add up. But the costs aren’t all financial. 

The legal maxim “justice delayed is justice denied” serves as the basis for the right to a speedy trial, which is one of nine rights guaranteed to citizens facing criminal trials in the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Delays can cause “the weakening of prosecution evidence, increased pressure to plea bargain, the erosion of the law’s deterrent effect, increased strain on jail resources and loss of public confidence in the courts,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs. 

The attorney shortage also means specialized attorneys are hard to find in Ashland, Good said. 

“If you’re a citizen here and you need a divorce lawyer, good luck,” he said, adding people routinely have to search for divorce lawyers based in Mansfield or Wooster.

The judge said securing out-of-town lawyers is more expensive because of costs associated with driving to and from appointments, for example.

“But they also don’t develop relationships with judges like locals would,” Good said.

Those relationships are built through daily interaction in the halls — banter, catching up on local news, neighborhood gossip.

Tina Carpenter, the nearly 15-year administrator of common pleas court, calls it the “hustle and bustle.”

“I miss it, the people coming in and out — I’ll be honest with you, I do kind of miss it,” she said, pausing. “It is pretty quiet … it’s a different atmosphere and there’s barely any traffic at all anymore.” 

Joe Kearns, entering his 30th year as an attorney, remembers practicing law at a lively courthouse. He misses the camaraderie and sense of community once shared among lawyers.

“When I had finished a hearing, I’d walk into the hallway and go to the law library,” Kearns said. “And (Judge Robert) Henderson would follow, sit down next to me and read a copy of the latest Wall Street Journal.” 

Kearns said that doesn’t happen very much anymore, if at all.

“It’s quieted down quite a bit,” he said.

Judge Good said he wouldn’t know what to do without an attorney like Kearns, who helps out at the municipal court with appointments quite a bit. 

“But Joe is so busy,” Good said, using Kearns’ first name.

He said local attorneys build relationships and trust by being members of the local society.

The judge let out a sigh.

“We all want justice done,” he said. “And to do that, you need good lawyers. It’s fundamental to justice.

“That depends on good advocates — if we don’t have that, maybe we don’t get justice.”