NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Roger McEowen, the Kansas Farm Bureau Professor of Agricultural Law and Taxation at Washburn University School of Law told Hutch Post that an important event is taking place later this month at the law school.
"We'd have farm families who would drive five to six hours to come see us in North Platte Nebraska to deal with their legal and tax issues," McEowen said. "It's always been a passion of mine to try to address this problem. That's what the large part of that conference is all about on January 24th that I'm doing at the law school."
The conference will have some continuing education in the morning, but the big payoff for McEowen is in the afternoon when they'll be able to match up students with rural practitioners.
"There isn't a week goes by that I don't get an email or a phone call or a letter in the mail from somebody saying do you have someone that you can send to me," McEowen said. "These aren't just law students they're looking for a CPA students coming out of the business schools and so invited to this event on the 24th are also K-State business students and the professors as well as Washburn business students that are interested in accounting professions to let them know that you don't have to go to the big city to be successful. In fact you can probably weigh the advantages and disadvantages and the rural areas are going to come out ahead in many respects."
Finding experts who can navigate the challenges of ag law as the great wealth transfer happens can do very well and do a lot of good, too.
"The hope is that we really actually connect people together and provide a means for our students to find these practitioners that have these great needs and get them linked up and get them placed," McEowen said.
For more information on the conference, go online to the Washburn Law website.