Multistate Performance Test (MPT): Lawyering Tasks from a Closed File
What the MPT tests
Two 90-minute performance tasks. You receive a File (facts, correspondence, pleadings) and a Library (statutes, cases, rules). The law you need is in the Library; do not rely on outside law. Tasks include office memos, client letters, briefs, contracts, and discovery plans. Graders assess factual analysis, legal analysis, organization, tone, and compliance with the requested format.
Method
- Read the task memo first; note the audience, format, and deliverable.
- Read the Library to extract the rule; read the File to sort favorable, unfavorable, and missing facts.
- Draft with headings that mirror the task; use the File's names and dates.
- Cite Library authorities in the requested style; explain how each case is similar or distinguishable.
Worked example
A memo asks whether a client's 18-month noncompete is enforceable. The Library statute makes covenants over 12 months unreasonable. One case enforces a 6-month covenant against a salesperson with client contacts; another voids a 24-month covenant against a janitor. The client is a sales director. Apply the statute: 18 months exceeds 12, so the covenant is unenforceable as written. The salesperson case is distinguishable on duration; the janitor case supports invalidity but on different facts. Conclude and advise renegotiation to 12 months or less.
Traps
- Writing a law-school essay rather than the requested document.
- Importing outside law when the Library controls.
- Ignoring unfavorable facts.
- Omitting the memo header or required sections.
- Failing to reach a clear recommendation.