Multistate Performance Test
The Multistate Performance Test tests lawyering skills, not substantive law recall. You receive a File with facts and a Library with authorities, then complete a task such as a memo, brief, client letter, or discovery plan. The task memo controls the format and the question.
Core rules
- Read the task memo first; it defines the audience, format, and issue.
- Use the Library for rules and the File for facts; do not import outside law.
- Apply the rule to the specific facts, including unfavorable facts.
- Organize with headings that match the task, and state a conclusion.
Worked example
The task memo asks whether a client can recover for emotional distress after witnessing an accident. The Library contains a case holding that a bystander can recover only if the bystander was in the zone of danger. The File says the client was two blocks away. Reasoning: The rule requires zone-of-danger presence. The client's distance means the client was not in the zone, so the claim likely fails. A strong answer acknowledges the client's close relationship to the victim but explains that the rule's threshold is spatial, not relational. The memo should conclude no recovery and note any alternative theory.
Traps
- Writing a legal essay instead of the requested document.
- Ignoring the task memo's specific questions.
- Copying Library language without applying File facts.
- Missing a counterargument or a limiting fact.