UNM School of Law students participate in the New Mexico Court’s Rural Justice Initiative Externship Program

The New Mexico Court's Rural Justice Initiative has provided School of Law students with the opportunity to gain hands-on legal experience while helping address New Mexico's shortage of legal professionals in rural communities.

Through the Rural Justice Initiative Judicial Externship Program, 12 students are spending the summer serving as judicial externs under the supervision of state district court judges across seven judicial districts. The program is designed to strengthen access to justice by encouraging future attorneys to build connections in rural areas where legal services are in high demand.

During the 10-week externship, students conduct legal research and writing, observe court proceedings and work closely with mentor judges. Students who successfully complete the program receive compensation, a $5,000 stipend, tuition reimbursement of up to $1,800, and a housing stipend of up to $4,000.

This summer's externs are serving in the Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh and Twelfth Judicial Districts. The 2026 Rural Justice Initiative judicial externs are: Andres Grano, Fourth Judicial District; Jasmine Jaramillo, Fourth Judicial District; A. Rafael Romero-Salas, Sixth Judicial District; Liam Burnside, Seventh Judicial District; Glenna Leffler, Seventh Judicial District; Darren Malanik, Eighth Judicial District; Jeffrey "Buddy" Wren, Eighth Judicial District; Stephanie Zamora, Ninth Judicial District; Alyssa Cruz, Ninth Judicial District; Loren Vigil, Eleventh Judicial District; Andrew Kessel, Eleventh Judicial District; and Natalie Burk, Twelfth Judicial District.

Seventh Judicial District extern Liam Burnside shared, "I chose to apply to the Rural Justice Initiative because I am from a small town in which legal resources are scant, so I know from my own life the particular problems that accompany living in a legal desert. Working on the inside has been illuminating to the many problems, but also the many benefits of the justice system in these rural judicial districts. I knew my judge would likely have a heavy caseload, but the amount and breadth of cases she tackles daily is staggering. Whereas in Albuquerque or Las Cruces, cases can be divvied up to various magistrate or probate courts; here, we handle everything from border disputes to murders. So, the amount of expertise required to appropriately try this array of cases is vast. So too is the geographical area that we have to cover. My district (the Seventh Judicial District) is the largest judicial district in the lower 48. That means in addition to having to handle the cases of Torrance County, we travel the circuit, hearing cases in Socorro, Catron and Sierra Counties."

He continued, "Consequently, this externship program is a welcome aid to these overburdened rural courts. As a clerk to Honorable Judge Shannon Murdock, I have been able to research and brief the more complex cases and legal questions on her docket and save her much needed time to handle other cases in a timelier manner. This program not only provides invaluable experience to the externs through exposure to parts of the law we may otherwise not have experienced and real-world research and application in active cases, but it also benefits the courts to have another set of hands that can tackle legal research and analysis and help with their ever-heavy caseload."