Until recently, the University of Oregon Law School graciously hosted the website of the Legal Education, ADR, and Practical Problem-Solving (LEAPS) Project.

This short article describes the history of the project and presents the materials it developed.

The project promoted “practical problem-solving” (PPS), which was defined as including interpersonal skills, general lawyering skills, dispute resolution and prevention, and professionalism.  It developed materials describing various teaching methodologies, suggestions for incorporating PPS in courses, a survey of how schools integrate PPS skills in their curricula, lists of consultants who can help on specific courses, examples of course exercises, approaches to introducing PPS in doctrinal courses, a list of textbooks that incorporate PPS and professional skills development, and links to relevant resources.

This material is particularly relevant now because the NextGen bar exam will include questions about client relationships and management, client counseling, negotiation, and dispute resolution.

Donna Shestowsky, the chair of the AALS ADR Section, recently announced that the Section created a subcommittee to help law schools and faculty prepare their students for the NextGen bar exam.  The subcommittee may use and/or update materials from the LEAPS Project.

Take a look.