Legal Writing and Multistate Performance Test
The MPT Format
The Multistate Performance Test gives you a file and a library, and asks you to produce a written work product (memo, brief, letter, contract provision). The task memo tells you the audience, the format, and the specific question. Read the task memo first, then the file, then the library.
Organization and Analysis
Use IRAC or CREAC: conclusion, rule, explanation, application, conclusion. For the MPT, the rule comes from the library, not from memory. Apply the rule to the facts in the file. Be explicit about which facts support and which undermine your conclusion.
Time Management
Budget time: reading (about one-third), outlining (about one-sixth), writing (about one-half). Don't over-research; the library is finite. Write in complete sentences and organized paragraphs.
Traps
Questions test whether you followed the task memo's format, whether you used the library's rule rather than your own knowledge, and whether you addressed counterarguments. A common error is writing a legal memo when the task asked for a client letter.
Rule of thumb
Follow the task memo exactly: format, audience, and question. The library supplies the law; the file supplies the facts.