(Radio Iowa) – The Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court says she’d like to see more programs that encourage lawyers to live and practice in rural Iowa. Chief Justice Susan Christensen is a Harlan native, and still lives in Shelby County.

Christensen says people talk about helping doctors and dentists pay off student loans if they practice in rural communities, but no one thinks about lawyers until they NEED a lawyer.

Christensen suggests the irony is a lawyer who starts out in a small town is able to get far more experience than a law school grad who lands a job in a big city firm.

Christensen says lawyers who work in large firms often spend years carrying someone’s briefcase before they get to have their own clients. Christensen made her comments during the “Breaking Glass” women’s leadership series sponsored by the Mason City Chamber of Commerce.