Lincoln, NE — Twelve rural counties in Nebraska are without attorneys, and 22 have fewer than three, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Former state senators Julie Slama and Andrew La Grone, who have lived in the countryside for several years, are addressing this shortage through their law firm, La Grone Slama, which specializes in government relations and estate planning.
“As we were practicing, we couldn’t help but see a real shortage of attorneys in our area and rural Nebraska overall, and that got the idea in our mind that we could be doing something more,” Slama said. Their personal experience with the rural shortage and the challenges of setting up an estate plan after starting a family motivated them to launch their practice.
The firm aims to minimize travel time for clients by conducting initial meetings via video conference. “Short of signing day, we make sure we’re cutting their travel time, their time off work, and making it as convenient as possible,” they explained. Many clients would otherwise have to travel long distances to Omaha or Lincoln…