NM Bar cheat sheet

Civil Procedure - Removal: the defendant must file notice within 30 days after service of the initial pleading, and diversity removal is barred when a properly joined defendant is a citizen of the forum state.

Constitutional Law - Strict scrutiny: a suspect classification or burden on a fundamental right survives only if the government proves the law is necessary to achieve a compelling interest and narrowly tailored.

Contracts - UCC 2-207(2): additional or different terms in an acceptance are proposals; between merchants they enter the contract unless they materially alter it, the offer expressly limits acceptance, or the offeror objects.

Criminal Law - Felony murder: the death must occur during an inherently dangerous felony; agency jurisdictions require the killing by a felon or accomplice, while proximate-cause jurisdictions extend to foreseeable deaths caused by third parties.

Evidence - FRE 801(d)(1)(A): a witness's prior statement given under oath at a trial, hearing, or deposition, inconsistent with current testimony, is non-hearsay and admissible substantively.

Real Property - Race-notice recording act: a later purchaser prevails over a prior unrecorded interest only if it takes for value without notice and records before that prior interest is recorded.

Torts - Res ipsa loquitur: the injury must be of a kind that ordinarily does not occur without negligence, caused by an instrumentality in the defendant's exclusive control, and not due to the plaintiff's own conduct.

Evidence - FRE 404(a)(1): character evidence is not admissible to prove conduct in civil cases, but habit evidence is admissible under FRE 406 to prove conduct on a specific occasion.

Contracts - Statute of Frauds categories: marriage, one year, land, executor, surety, and sale of goods of $500 or more; the writing must be signed by the party to be charged.

Business Associations - Duty of loyalty: a director with a conflict must show the transaction was fair to the corporation or that it was approved by disinterested directors or a majority of disinterested shares.

Conflict of Laws - A forum applies its own procedural rules but follows its choice-of-law approach, commonly the Restatement most-significant-relationship test, to select governing substantive law.

Family Law - A premarital agreement is enforceable if in writing and signed, entered voluntarily, and supported by fair disclosure or a knowing waiver, subject to unconscionability and disclosure defenses.

Secured Transactions - Attachment requires value given, debtor rights in the collateral, and either an authenticated security agreement describing the collateral or the secured party's possession or control.

Secured Transactions - Perfection by filing requires a financing statement naming the debtor and indicating the collateral; the filing lapses after five years unless a continuation statement is filed.

Trusts - An express trust requires settlor intent, an identifiable res, ascertainable beneficiaries, and a lawful purpose; failure of the trust generally creates a resulting trust for the settlor.

Trusts and Estates - Intestate succession: a surviving spouse takes the entire estate if the decedent leaves no issue, or a statutory share with the residue to issue by representation.

Conflict of Laws - Full faith and credit requires enforcement of a sister-state judgment that is final, on the merits, and rendered by a court with jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter.

Each MPT consists of two separate 90-minute tasks, and both are scored as part of the total written component.

Each task supplies a closed file containing the client facts, governing statutes, and cases; no outside research or remembered law is required or credited.

The instruction memo identifies the document to produce, the audience, the tone, and the required format, and those instructions control the deliverable.

Objective memorandum format: question presented, brief answer, statement of facts, discussion applying file authorities to the facts, and conclusion.

Persuasive brief format: statement of facts, issue-based point headings, argument with record and authority citations, and a conclusion requesting specific relief.

Factual analysis is scored on reconciling inconsistent file facts, identifying missing facts, and applying each element of the governing rule to specific facts.

Client letters are scored on plain-language explanation of the legal conclusion, available options, risks, and next steps, with technical terms defined or avoided.