Thirty-two attorneys joined the Rural Attorney Recruitment Program in South Dakota. This chapter explores their backgrounds and why they chose to practice law in rural areas. Beginning with these lawyers’ childhoods, the chapter explains the characteristics of the rural lawyers and explores which characteristics made lawyers more likely to stay.

Rural communities benefit when they have local lawyers. Lawyers do volunteer work in communities by serving on boards, putting on events, and in many other ways. Lawyers also volunteer in another important way, by providing free legal services within their communities. While the pro bono work done by rural lawyers cannot close the justice gap, it helps many individual clients. Lawyers also help whole communities, making rural communities more vibrant and resilient. While local governments spend money on lawyers, those governments also financially benefit from having local attorneys.

Rural attorneys are sometimes generalists, but often specialize in a few areas of law. Almost all of the attorneys do criminal legal work, either part-time prosecution, part-time criminal defense, and sometimes both. Lawyers also maintain significant private practices doing transactional and litigation work. This chapter surveys the areas of law practiced and also considers the conflicts that arise for rural lawyers.

Introducing the rural lawyer shortage through its impact on rural America, the introduction makes the case that rural areas matter and policy responses are justified to help rural America.

Mentorship is one of the most important facets of new legal practice, and the importance of mentorship is elevated in rural areas where there are few mentors available. This chapter considers how new rural lawyers obtained mentorship and discusses particular challenges of mentorship for solo practitioners, in satellite offices, and in law firm offices. Relying on interviews from both mentors and mentees, this chapter makes clear the importance of good mentorship.

Many states have realized there is a shortage of lawyers in rural areas and have decided to improve legal access in rural communities. This chapter surveys the current approaches to increasing access to justice or access to lawyers in rural areas. South Dakota has the earliest and most robust program, and the origin of that program is shared in detail.

Some lawyers decide against rural practice because they think it is too risky. South Dakota’s Rural Attorney Recruitment Program takes some of the risk – and therefore some of the fear – out of rural practice. Lawyers can be successful in rural practice, and a stipend can help. In turn, rural communities and clients benefit.

This case study uses Alibaba/Ant Group as an example to show how the meteoric growth of e-commerce and the platform economy in China has transformed the way that business is done and has made Chinese consumers into some of the world’s most active online sellers and purchasers. It focuses especially on the constantly evolving interactions between Alibaba/Ant Group, the Chinese government, and international investors. The case study demonstrates that the expansion of large Chinese corporations within China and overseas, as well as their occasional setbacks, cannot be understood without a broader knowledge of the legal structures underpinning cross-border investment and awareness of multiple competing political interests in China.

The case also gives insights into the multinational links of Chinese e-commerce firms, such as international buyers purchasing Chinese goods online through Taobao and AliExpress, investors buying Alibaba’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and Alibaba acquiring e-commerce firms overseas, especially in Southeast Asia and developing countries elsewhere.

Finally, the case explains how e-commerce platforms like Alibaba/Ant Group evolved into online banking and financial services. Their huge size and financial complexity have led to systemic risks, and this has caused the Chinese government to regulate these firms more tightly.

In 2018, baijiu giant Jiangsu Yanghe Distillery Co., Ltd. acquired 12.5% of one of the largest global wine conglomerates in Chile, VSPT Wine Group, for US$65 million. The transaction was the first of its kind in the South American country, in which a Chinese baijiu producer purchased a stake in a Chilean wine company. The transaction involved considerable strategic and business planning and the support of experienced legal and financial advisors. This case study first analyzes how a change in alcohol consumption habits in China was a critical factor for Yanghe in deciding to carry out the transaction and the rationale behind choosing a target from the “new wine world.” It then explores how the Chile-China Free Trade Agreement has increased the amount of wine exported to China and how Chilean wine is perceived as “value for money” among Chinese consumers. Finally, it discusses how this transaction is an example of how Chinese state-owned enterprises have learned rapidly from their outward foreign direct investments and how Chinese investors are increasingly using experienced advisors to help inform their overseas investments.

This case study examines a Chinese-Omani cooperation project in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm, Oman (SEZAD) and illustrates how its significance extends beyond the China–Gulf relationship with broader implications for trade and security in the wider region. The Sino-Oman Industrial Park is the major industrial ecosystem that is being developed within the SEZAD and is expected to attract investment of around US$10 billion. Even though the project began as one of the ports along the Maritime Silk Road, it has gained importance mainly due to being located at the strategic transshipment point for goods moving between Africa, Asia, and Europe and providing a crucial node in facilitating global trade and connectivity. This case study first discusses the overall context and considers the investment environment of Oman as well as Oman’s relationship with China. It then concentrates on the SEZAD and highlights several aspects that make this case unique. These include the involvement of multilateral funding, the involvement of Chinese provinces in the development of an overseas industrial park, and issues for China as it strategically invests in a neutral country, Oman.