Multistate Performance Test Strategy
The Multistate Performance Test on the Guam exam tests lawyering skills rather than memorized doctrine: you must produce a practical document from a closed file of facts and authorities in 90 minutes. The task is graded on analysis, use of facts, legal reasoning, organization, and compliance with the task memo.
What is tested
- Objective analysis, persuasive writing, fact application, and clear organization.
- Common formats: objective memorandum, persuasive brief, client letter, contract provision, and demand letter.
- Closed universe: use only the file's cases, statutes, and facts; do not import outside law.
Method
- Read the task memo first; identify the audience, tone, and deliverable.
- Read the file and library; extract rules and map facts to elements.
- Outline before writing; use headings; cite the provided authorities.
- Watch the clock: 90 minutes total; leave time to proofread.
Worked example
Task: draft an objective memo to a supervising attorney on whether a Guam client can recover for a defective product. The file contains a Guam Supreme Court case adopting strict liability, a statute on comparative fault, and facts about misuse. The memo should state the question presented, a brief answer, the facts, and an analysis under each element: defect, causation, and damages. Use the elements from the provided case; apply the comparative-fault statute to reduce recovery; conclude with a probability assessment. If the client used the product in an unforeseeable way, analyze whether misuse was foreseeable. Do not cite the Restatement unless the file includes it.
Traps
- Writing a law-school essay instead of the requested document.
- Ignoring the task memo's specific questions.
- Overusing outside law or policy arguments when the file supplies the rule.
- Failing to apply facts; conclusory analysis.
- Poor time management: not finishing the deliverable.
A strong answer follows the format, uses the file's authorities, and applies the facts element by element. The best MPT answers are structured, direct, and complete; they do not try to show how much law the candidate knows.