SD Bar Multistate Performance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In an MPT objective memorandum, a supervising attorney asks you to analyze whether the client has a viable claim. What is the primary purpose of this document?
- To persuade the court to rule in the client's favor
- To provide an unbiased analysis of the law and facts for the attorney's internal use (Correct answer)
- To summarize the client's version of events without legal analysis
- To draft settlement terms for opposing counsel
Correct answer: To provide an unbiased analysis of the law and facts for the attorney's internal use
An objective memorandum is an internal document that honestly evaluates strengths and weaknesses, not one designed to advocate for a position.
Question 2: When completing an MPT task, which component of the File typically controls the scope of the assignment?
- The case summary prepared by a paralegal
- The task memo from the supervising attorney (Correct answer)
- The exhibits attached to pleadings
- The jurisdiction's rules of professional conduct
Correct answer: The task memo from the supervising attorney
The task memo in the File defines precisely what document to draft, the format required, and the issues to address.
Question 3: Under the MPT Library structure, which source must examinees rely on exclusively for legal authority?
- Their personal knowledge of outside case law
- Any federal statute they recall from law school
- Only the cases, statutes, and regulations provided in the Library (Correct answer)
- Secondary sources such as Restatements they have memorized
Correct answer: Only the cases, statutes, and regulations provided in the Library
The MPT is a closed-universe exercise; examinees must use only the authorities included in the Library and may not import outside law.
Question 4: An MPT client letter must communicate a legal analysis. Which tone is most appropriate?
- Highly technical with full citations to authority
- Conversational, avoiding legal jargon, and explaining implications in plain language (Correct answer)
- Formal and adversarial, similar to a court brief
- Identical in style to an objective office memorandum
Correct answer: Conversational, avoiding legal jargon, and explaining implications in plain language
A client letter translates legal conclusions into plain language the client can understand, omitting or explaining technical terms.
Question 5: During MPT grading, what is the significance of a 'point sheet' used by bar examiners?
- It lists every possible sentence an examinee could write to earn full credit
- It identifies the key issues and analytical steps that earn credit, guiding flexible scoring (Correct answer)
- It requires examinees to address issues in a specified order
- It penalizes examinees for raising issues not anticipated by the examiners
Correct answer: It identifies the key issues and analytical steps that earn credit, guiding flexible scoring
A point sheet identifies the major and minor issues and analytical moves graders look for, allowing credit for different but correct approaches.
Question 6: An MPT task asks you to draft a motion to suppress. What is the most important structural feature of that document?
- A narrative summary of all facts in the File without legal argument
- Clear headings that advance legal arguments supported by authority and applied to the facts (Correct answer)
- A table of authorities listing every case in the Library
- An introduction explaining your personal view of the case outcome
Correct answer: Clear headings that advance legal arguments supported by authority and applied to the facts
A motion to suppress is persuasive writing requiring argued headings that apply the law to the facts in a way that advances the client's position.
Question 7: In the MPT, when a Library case is from a fictional jurisdiction whose courts follow the same general common law, how should you treat that authority?
- Ignore it because it is not real law
- Treat it as binding precedent within the closed universe of the exercise (Correct answer)
- Use it only if no statute in the Library addresses the issue
- Apply it only to facts that are identical to those in the case
Correct answer: Treat it as binding precedent within the closed universe of the exercise
MPT authorities are controlling within the exercise's fictional jurisdiction and must be applied as if they were real binding law.
SD Bar Multistate Performance 2
In an MPT objective memorandum, a supervising attorney asks you to analyze whether the client has a viable claim.
What is the primary purpose of this document?