Rural Law

Lasagna and Lawyering

/ Bruce Cameron / 2 Comments
Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.

Anthony J. D’Angelo
For a community to be whole and healthy, it must be based on people’s love and concern for each other.

Millard Fuller

The inevitability of living in a small rural town is that eventually events conspire to prove yet again that farming is dangerous and that horsepower and steel can conspire to illustrate the fragility human body. Such events seldom happen in the clear light of day, rather they wait until those hours when fatigue fogs the brain and diminishes decision making. Yet, these moments are also the moments when one can glimpse the defining element of a rural community – the outpouring of care and support that follows in tragedy’s wake.

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Minutiae Matters

/ Bruce Cameron

Millions of years of evolution have equipped horses with endurance, grace, a certain nobility of movement, and a brain whose surplus computing power is slightly less than that of a four function calculator. Horses are absolutely sure of two things: (1) they taste good, and (2) everything that is not another horse wants to eat them. For the horse owner, these two certainties lead to the conclusion that whatever processing power the horse brain contains, 90% is dedicated to running away from things, 9% is dedicated to eating and the various autonomic systems needed to keep a the horse alive, and (if one is feeling generous) 1% is available for optional tasks – like paying attention to said owner.

Don’t get me wrong, I care for and have great respect for my horses and I am continuously amazed by the bargain they have struck with mankind. Here’s a prey animal that is willing to allow a much smaller predator to encompass it with straps and harnesses, to climb on its back, and to carry said predator for great distances and long periods of time in return for clean hay and the daily bucket of oats. Continue reading →

The Uncertain Glory of an April Day*

/ Bruce Cameron

Spring has come to this rural practice and with it brings the ritual and renewal that is spring cleaning. Spring cleaning is that biannual event, not quite unlike a wiccan sabbat, where one marks the turning of the seasons with some sort of great occasion. The tedious eviction of the accumulated detritus of the past six months may to give way to some great bacchanalia but it does provide for a certain amount of contemplation and reflection.

Some years back, on one of these April days where the weather was too good to work inside, but not quite good enough to work out in the yard or in the fields, I found myself lying half way into the manger of my horse trailer attempting to rivet a metal patch in place. Continue reading →

Thinking About a Rural Practice?

/ Bruce Cameron

Great, we need more lawyers out here in the wilds of rural America, but before you go trading in your Ferragamo’s for a set of gumboots, there are some things you need to consider.

First, the general expectation is going to be that as the “new kid” you’re going to have to adapt to the community and its ways. After all, they were there first and, for the most part, like things the way they are just fine thank you. But don’t worry, the new wears off in time, typically 2 to 3 generations unless you do something so spectacularly beyond community expectations that everyone in the community takes notice. The latter typically earns you a nickname that in some way commemorates the event. Until then, get used to referring to your house as the “Ol’ Jones’ Place” and direct people to your office by telling them you’ve set up in the “Mercantile”

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