NM Bar Performance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In an MPT file memo task, which section of the File should an attorney prioritize reading first to understand the scope of the assignment?
- The task memo from the supervising attorney (Correct answer)
- The deposition transcripts
- The statutory excerpts
- The library cases
Correct answer: The task memo from the supervising attorney
The task memo from the supervising attorney defines the specific work product requested and sets the boundaries of the assignment.
Question 2: When drafting an objective office memorandum for a supervising attorney in an MPT, how should the writer treat unfavorable precedent?
- Omit it to present the strongest possible argument
- Distinguish it briefly in a footnote
- Analyze it honestly alongside favorable authority (Correct answer)
- Mention it only if opposing counsel is likely to raise it
Correct answer: Analyze it honestly alongside favorable authority
An objective memo requires candid analysis, including unfavorable authority, so the supervising attorney can make fully informed decisions.
Question 3: A client letter in an MPT performance task differs from an office memo primarily because a client letter must:
- Cite all cases with full legal citations
- Use plain language and avoid unexplained legal jargon (Correct answer)
- Include a detailed analysis of opposing arguments
- Be written in passive voice for formality
Correct answer: Use plain language and avoid unexplained legal jargon
Client letters must communicate legal advice in terms the client can understand, avoiding unexplained technical legal language.
Question 4: When an MPT Library contains a statute and a conflicting case interpreting it, the examinee should:
- Apply the statute as written and ignore the case
- Apply the case as it controls over the statute
- Analyze the case to determine how courts apply the statute (Correct answer)
- Request additional materials before proceeding
Correct answer: Analyze the case to determine how courts apply the statute
Cases interpreting a statute reveal how courts actually apply it, and that judicial construction is essential to sound legal analysis.
Question 5: In a negotiation planning memo for an MPT task, the primary goal of identifying your client's BATNA is to:
- Demonstrate litigation strength to intimidate opposing counsel
- Establish the threshold below which settlement should be rejected (Correct answer)
- Calculate the maximum settlement offer to extend
- Satisfy a procedural requirement of the task memo
Correct answer: Establish the threshold below which settlement should be rejected
BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) defines your client's walk-away point, below which no deal is preferable to no deal.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes 'reading beyond the four corners' of a document in MPT contract analysis tasks?
- Substituting your own legal knowledge for library materials
- Using extrinsic evidence to interpret ambiguous contract terms (Correct answer)
- Ignoring the contract and relying solely on case law
- Adding terms the parties forgot to include
Correct answer: Using extrinsic evidence to interpret ambiguous contract terms
When contract language is ambiguous, courts look to extrinsic evidence such as course of dealing or prior negotiations, which the MPT File may supply.
Question 7: An MPT examinee discovers that the most recent case in the Library directly contradicts an earlier case in the same jurisdiction. The examinee should:
- Apply both cases equally and let the grader decide
- Apply the earlier case as the original controlling authority
- Apply the more recent case as it likely overrules or limits the earlier one (Correct answer)
- Disregard both cases and rely solely on the statute
Correct answer: Apply the more recent case as it likely overrules or limits the earlier one
In common-law jurisdictions, a more recent decision from the same court typically controls over an older, inconsistent decision.
NM Bar Performance 2
In an MPT file memo task, which section of the File should an attorney prioritize reading first to understand the scope of the assignment?