I am one of several people on the LEAPS committee who scans certain blogs to identify people who may not be familiar with LEAPS and let them know about it. So I subscribe to the Best Practices for Legal Education blog and the blog for IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, at the University of Denver.
The IAALS sponsors several law-related projects including Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers (ETL), which focuses on legal education. ETL posts “portfolios” of materials for courses that integrate the Carnegie apprenticeships, very consistent with the LEAPS approach. They have a portfolio on my negotiation course as well as courses dealing with more traditional legal subjects. They invite faculty to submit materials for innovative courses and I encourage you to do so.
Anyway, I recently saw two blog posts that you might be interested in.
The IAALS blog had a piece entitled, “Federal Rules Changes Reflect Focus on Cooperation,” by Riley Combelic. This links to an article describing a proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure s to promote cooperation. This includes, among others, a proposal to amend Rule 1 to make litigants – as well as the courts – responsible for “the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.” Insomniacs may want to read the Summary of the Report of the Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure for more about this and other proposed rules changes.
The Best Practices blog posted an item by Paula Schaefer (Tennessee) describing a cool website, LegalED, run by Michele Pistone (Villanova), which has lots of resources devoted to improving legal education consistent with the LEAPS perspective.
