By Leslie Hayes

The Jackrabbit[i] Bar Conference

The Jackrabbit Bar Conference is an annual conference of camaraderie and interactions between bar leaders from Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The states rotate as host each year and the group gathers to network and discuss issues specific to small, rural, and mandatory bars. This year’s host was New Mexico where we were able to convene in Santa Fe to learn about the history and heritage of the black presence in the legal profession in New Mexico, Land Grants in New Mexico, and how New Mexico’s Supreme Court is working to modernize the legal profession. Beyond the learning, professional relationships were formed, and, most importantly, Team Alexander Hamiltater[ii] took home the scavenger hunt grand prize after completing a thorough walking tour of Santa Fe’s sites![iii] This article will focus on the New Mexico Supreme Court’s attempt to address legal deserts in its state and will conclude with a fun story about New Mexico’s famous friendly ghost.

Modernizing the Practice of Law in New Mexico

One of the presentations at the Jackrabbit was how New Mexico is addressing legal deserts and alternative paths to licensure.[iv] New Mexico has formed two different committees to study avenues to address legal deserts: one that will look specifically at the licensure process and barriers to licensure in rural areas and one that will examine new categories of legal service providers (i.e., community justice providers). The presentation and resulting questions led to a good discussion amongst attendees on how their own states are attempting to address similar problems and conversations they are having around identifying what the access to justice problem is and what precise problem the state is trying to solve.

Through my work on the Commission, I have also been involved in conversations surrounding legal deserts and issues specific to access to justice in Idaho. “Everyone agrees that there are areas of high legal need . . . But many disagree on how exactly to calculate that need.”[v] As noted by my fellow Commissioner, FJ Hahn, the ABA has taken the definition of “less than one lawyer per 1,000 people,” which based on numbers, renders the entire state of Idaho a legal desert. However, the problem is more complex than that. “If a community has no one to do wills and estates or family law, but the single lawyer for 60 miles is doing mostly real estate, then legal needs are left on the table.”[vi] The National Center for State Courts has been studying data beyond just the number of people and the number of lawyers, it is looking to “ages, as well as other characteristics about the area, including common language proficiency, internet access, distance to a courthouse, income distribution, and more.”[vii]

Legal deserts are complicated because “how do you measure the presence of legal services, and where do you get the data?”[viii] Finally, as FJ’s article demonstrates, not every state agrees on the same solution and not every solution is achievable or viable. I challenge you to think about legal deserts, your own practice, and how you might help solve the problem of affordable access to legal services within our state.[ix]]

Julia Staab – Santa Fe’s most famous friendly ghost

Finally, I would be remiss to not mention that the conference was hosted at a haunted hotel. So, I will conclude with the story of Abraham and Julia Staab and how Julia became Santa Fe’s most famous ghost.

Julia was born in 1844 in Germany and married a Santa Fe merchant, Abraham Staab in 1865.[x] In 1865, Santa Fe was an outpost in the American West that pre-dated statehood by forty-seven years.[xi] Abraham built what is now La Posada de Santa Fe in 1882–a three-story mini palace in the French Second Empire style.[xii] The Staab house still stands today in the main entrance of the hotel with the house now hosting the hotel lounge. One can still see where the main entrance to the house was and the hotel has preserved the family mezuzah in the entry way.

It is said that Julia had a troubled life and an early death in 1896 at the age of 52. After losing a child (her eighth live birth), her mental health declined significantly and it is rumored that she locked herself in her room for two weeks, emerging with snow white hair that had previously been dark.[xiii]

Julia’s first sighting was by a janitor in the 1970’s when he saw a translucent white-haired woman standing next to the fireplace in a Victorian-era gown.[xiv] She is described as a benevolent sprit, “who simply appears to continue to enjoy her grand Santa Fe mansion.”[xv] Her presence is so regular and popular, that one can even book the Julia Staab Ghost Package at La Posada de Santa Fe.[xvi]

During the conference, we attempted our own Julia siting. Alas, this is as close as we got. Enjoy!

Leslie Hayes is one of two commissioners representing the Fourth Judicial District. She has served on the Board of Commissioners for the Idaho State Bar since 2025. The thoughts and opinions in this article are Leslie’s alone.

[i] And, yes, there is a stuffed jackrabbit that travels with the location of the conference every year.

[ii] The team’s name clearly being a nod to one of our revolutionary spuds.

[iii] Including, the New Mexico Supreme Court’s golden doors, the Loretto Chapel spiral staircase, and the San Miguel Mission, which was constructed in 1610 and believed to be the oldest church building in the continental United States.

[iv] This presentation was conducted by Chief Justice Julie Vargas and Justice C. Shannon Bacon, both of whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the National Judicial College’s Harvard Judicial Executive Leadership course.

[v] https://clp.law.harvard.edu/knowledge-hub/magazine/issues/legal-deserts/mapping-legal-deserts/

[vi] Id.

[vii] Id.

[viii] https://red.library.usd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1255&context=sdlrev, p. 4.

[ix] Ideas include, volunteering with the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program, which could be as simple as a shift at the Lawyer in the Library program, or donating money to access to justice, which funds Idaho Legal Aid.

[x] https://www.discoversantafe.us/blog/the-ghost-of-julia-staab/

[xi] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Fe,_New_Mexico

[xii] https://www.discoversantafe.us/blog/the-ghost-of-julia-staab/

[xiii] https://www.santafediscoverywalkingtours.com/blog/the-ghost-of-julia-staab

[xiv] Id.

[xv] https://www.laposadadesantafe.com/blog/julia-staab-ghost-package/

[xvi] Id.