By Paige Bangerter, Bangerter Law, P.A.

Unlike many of my classmates, I never had a strong desire to leave Dodge City. I loved my home with its Wild West history, immigrant cultural influences, and friendly small-town greetings. However, after a year of community college, the time came for me to fly the nest. I obtained my undergraduate degree from Wheaton College in the suburbs of Chicago, even living near downtown for a while. I traveled extensively, and soaked up every new experience I could. However, there really is no place like home. Like Dorothy, despite the wonders of Oz, my heart longed to return home to Kansas. I attended law school at the University of Kansas, and although I knew of job opportunities back home, I did not at first believe Dodge City could offer me adequate mentorship or opportunity.

In 2020, when the pandemic changed the world and forced all of us to confront our priorities, I decided to take a leap of faith and start a law firm in Dodge City. I was already living in Dodge City, staying with family while awaiting my bar results, when things began to shut down. This gave me the opportunity to challenge the assumptions I was operating under. With everything going remote, and many people working from home, I began to consider starting my career in Dodge City.

The pandemic redefined what success means to me. I started seeing success as being in my home community, somewhere that I could really make an impact. Life seemed shorter and more precious than it did before, and at the same time mentorship and opportunity seemed more accessible with the growth of remote meetings and calls. I decided to start my law firm and base it out of my hometown. I started my practice representing indigent criminal defendants and parents in child-in-need-of-care cases.

There is never a shortage of clients in rural practice. Starting a firm right out of law school seemed crazy at the time, and still seems crazy. However, doing it in a place like Dodge City makes all the difference. Practicing law in Dodge City meant a lot of people knew me and were willing to mentor and support me while I figured out how to be a lawyer.

More than just supporting me, my community was thrilled I chose to come home and practice law. Rural areas of Kansas desperately need lawyers. I never once encountered anyone who looked at me as competing for clients. There are far more clients than lawyers in western Kansas, and having a new lawyer come into town ready to take pretty much any case that walked in the door was exciting, not just for me, but for what felt like the entire local legal community.

While in law school, I assumed I would need the structure and support of a firm full of lawyers to be able to grow as a lawyer. That is not necessarily true in western Kansas. An advantage to rural practice is the community. Broadly, rural communities tend to have cultures of friendliness and helpfulness. This is true in the legal community as well. Any lawyer I asked for help was happy to help me, to share sample motions with me, and to point me to the right resources. That was true in some instances even of my opposing counsel. The support I received and still receive was and is profoundly helpful.

Starting a law firm, essentially becoming a small-business owner as my first job out of law school, likely could not have succeeded anywhere except in my own community. My community knew me, watched me grow up, and was rooting for me to succeed. Old teachers sent clients my way, my mom’s previous students would recognize my last name and just assume I would be a good lawyer because they liked my mom. My old high school classmates would call me if a legal question arose. Everyone knew about my dad’s decades-long legal practice and imputed much of the trust he had earned over time to myself. Essentially, my community bolstered me up, sent business my way, and did everything it could to help me and my business thrive. I am not sure that would have been possible without the close-knit connections of a smaller town or rural community.

Because I practice in an area with fewer lawyers, there is more opportunity to serve in positions where I get to represent southwest Kansas. Most lawyers here are so busy they do not have much time to participate in state-wide bar associations. However, I chose to follow the example of Dave Rebein, a mentor and legendary Dodge City lawyer, by making an effort to remain active and engaged with lawyers from other parts of the state. Participating in our local chapter of the Federal Bar Association has been so rewarding for me, and it is really fun to get to connect with lawyers and judges practicing in different areas of Kansas and Missouri.

I have also been privileged to participate in the efforts of the Rural Justice Initiative, spear-headed by Laurel Klein Searles. I have no illusions that my ability to participate in these things has anything to do with my own brilliance. Once again, these opportunities are gifts from my community. In a larger community, I am sure I would get lost in the crowd. But, by choosing to practice law in Dodge City, I have been given opportunities to sit on boards, participate in important discussions, and meet amazing legal professionals from all over Kansas.

This year, my community again blessed me with their trust when I became a partner in Bangerter Law, P.A., with my father Shane Bangerter, and I became city attorney for the City of Dodge City alongside Brad Ralph. Being in a smaller community, and being dedicated to that community, has provided many blessings and opportunities to my career that I could not have cultivated so soon in any other location. This town gave me the most wonderful childhood, and now it is giving me an amazing career. I am grateful for the opportunity to give back in service to Dodge City, and I hope to continue that service for many years to come.

In addition to professional advantages, living in rural communities is far less homogenous than it was in years gone by. Communities in southwest Kansas have been blessed by the infusion of many groups of immigrants from all over the world. Dodge City hosts an annual international festival where we celebrate the many cultures of the citizens of Dodge City. It is amazing how much global representation is present in a small city in southwest Kansas. We have amazing restaurants and food trucks with food from all over the world. Alongside new international cultural influences, Dodge City has done a great job preserving our Old-West history and heritage. I find it really cool to be from such a unique place, with so many different kinds of people, yet still have the neighborly advantages of a small town.

Somehow this “article” has turned into an extended love letter to my town, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I hope the reader of these words feels the gratitude I wish to convey that my life and career has led me back home to Dodge City. I hope your own community blesses you and your practice as warmly.

Paige Bangerter is a 2017 graduate of Wheaton College and a 2019 graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law. She is an attorney at Bangerter Law, P.A., and practices in Dodge City. She can be reached at paige@blawpa.com.

This article was originally published in the Kansas Bar Journal, May-June 2023, Vol. 92, No. 3, and is posted with the permission of the Kansas Bar Association.