Rural Pathways: Presiding Justice Elizabeth A. Garry

About this episode

Justice Elizabeth A. Garry discusses the Rural Pathways initiative aimed at improving legal services in rural New York.

The lack of accessible legal services in rural areas is a national crisis, and New York State — where four million people live in rural areas – is certainly no exception. Presiding Justice Elizabeth A. Garry of the Appellate Division, Third Department, is attempting to address the crisis through a novel “Rural Pathways” initiative that places law students in remote areas where they can experience the camaraderie of the local legal community and appreciate the innumerable benefits of life and practice outside the bigger cities. In this Amici podcast, Justice Garry, who grew up on a dairy farm and spent most of her legal and judicial career in one of the more remote regions of the state, speaks of the need for legal services in rural areas and the recently completed and highly successful pilot program she embraced: Rural Pathways. Transcript: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/files/2025-08/Rural%20Pathways.pdf

People in this episode

Host: John Caher

Guest: Elizabeth A. Garry

Topics covered

• legal services
• rural areas
• law students
• community engagement
• judicial initiatives

Keywords

• Rural Pathways
• legal services
• rural communities
• law students
• New York State

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Appellate Division, Third Department

Places: New York State, rural areas, dairy farm

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