Pulse Magazine

One County, One Lawyer: Legal Deserts Take A Human Toll

By Aebra Coe and Daniel Connolly | September 14, 2026, 4:35 PM EDT

Divorce is often hard, but it is harder still when there’s just one lawyer in town. The story of one divorcing couple in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula illustrates the financial costs and emotional pain of living in a legal desert, and it helps explain why lawyer shortages are spreading throughout rural America. This story introduces Law360 Pulse’s special series on legal deserts.

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