I am sure that we all experience the challenge of getting our first-year students to embrace procedure as an important tool of the "real world" lawyer. This difficulty is perhaps no greater than when the topic is personal jurisdiction. For me, the hurdle is even more pronounced because I begin my survey of civil procedure with Pennoyer and the other great jurisdictional cases.

       As I was preparing to teach my first civil procedure course, I was searching for a way to get the students to work with the personal jurisdiction materials on both a doctrinal and practical level. I knew that the more theoretical side of the material could be explored in class. The practical side, however, could not really be appreciated merely through the case method or even by imparting my experiences in practice.

       It was my struggle with this issue that led me to use a group project method as part of my exploration of personal jurisdiction. On the first day of class, I ask the students to divide themselves into groups of no more than 7 students. These groups will each be a law firm. About two or three weeks into the semester, I distribute the personal jurisdiction problem, a letter from a client seeking advice about whether he can sue a defendant in a given state. Each firm is required to submit a 3-5 page written response to the client. In addition, the firm has a meeting with the client (me) to present its conclusions and recommendations.

       In my view, the use of the group project has been an incredibly useful addition to the civil procedure course. For example, the project allows students to:

• wrestle with, and understand better, the theoretical issues we discuss in class. There simply is no better way to learn the ins and outs of doctrine than by using it;

• develop skills working with statutes thorough the application of a long arm statute;

• see the practical importance of even abstract civil procedure doctrine to the "real world" practice of law;

• learn to work together in groups, a skill often neglected in law school; and

• see that what they are learning in the classroom can be exciting.

       Finally, the project also has the additional benefit that you can carry the facts into other areas of the course. For example, I also have the law firm draft a complaint and engage in some discovery later in the course. Thus, the benefits of the project carry on during the semester.

       In sum, the group project device is one that may be worth considering as a means to bring the civil procedure course alive.