MPT document library
The complete MPT document library.
The MPT document library covers the 14 task formats a performance test can assign. A performance task is not a generic essay. Master the audience, purpose, structure, authority use, tone, and completion standard for every major family of legal work product: then let the task memorandum control when the assignment varies. The 14 formats here span 5 families: Objective, Persuasive, Client, Judicial / public, Transactional. Each one lists its own document skeleton, what to read for, format-specific traps, and a self-grading rubric. The formats are: Objective memorandum, Persuasive brief or memorandum, Client advice letter, Demand letter, Formal opinion letter, Bench memorandum, Draft judicial opinion, Case evaluation or litigation strategy memo, Investigation or discovery plan, Negotiation plan, Settlement term sheet or agreement, Contract provisions with explanation, Policy memorandum or proposal, Closing argument or advocacy statement.
Ready to write a complete task? Work one of the full MPT practice tasks, each with a File, a Library, a rubric, and a model answer.
| Family | Document | Audience | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Objective | Objective memorandum | Supervising attorney or internal legal team | Predict the likely legal result and explain uncertainty neutrally: the reader is deciding what to do next based on your analysis alone, so a memo that hides genuine uncertainty behind confident-sounding language actually does more damage than one that states plainly where the law or the facts leave real room for doubt. |
| Persuasive | Persuasive brief or memorandum | Court or decision maker | Obtain a requested ruling through accurate, forceful application of the supplied law: persuasive does not mean overstated, and a brief that mischaracterizes a case's holding or quietly buries the one fact that cuts the other way tends to lose credibility with the decision maker long before it loses the actual argument. |
| Client | Client advice letter | Client without assumed legal training | Explain the law, likely outcome, practical options, and next steps in understandable language: a client reading this letter has no legal training to fall back on, so every term of art either gets translated on the spot or gets cut entirely, because a technically accurate letter the client can't actually use has failed at the one job it had. |
| Persuasive | Demand letter | Opposing party, insurer, employer, or counsel | Secure a defined remedy by showing liability, harm, and the value of prompt resolution. |
| Client | Formal opinion letter | Client, board, lender, or other relying party | State a legal opinion within defined assumptions, qualifications, and scope. |
| Judicial / public | Bench memorandum | Judge or judicial officer | Provide neutral decision support: issues, governing law, party positions, analysis, and recommended disposition. |
| Judicial / public | Draft judicial opinion | Parties, reviewing court, and public | Resolve assigned issues with findings or reasoning supported by the supplied record and law. |
| Objective | Case evaluation or litigation strategy memo | Supervising lawyer or litigation team | Evaluate claims, defenses, proof, exposure, and the next litigation decision. |
| Objective | Investigation or discovery plan | Legal team, investigator, or client team | Identify the information needed to test a legal theory and the lawful method for obtaining it. |
| Transactional | Negotiation plan | Client or negotiating team | Prepare objectives, authority, leverage, proposals, concessions, and implementation terms. |
| Transactional | Settlement term sheet or agreement | Parties, counsel, and future enforcer | Convert resolution into complete, enforceable, operational terms. |
| Transactional | Contract provisions with explanation | Client and counterparty | Draft operative language that allocates a specified risk, then explain how it serves the client. |
| Judicial / public | Policy memorandum or proposal | Agency, organization, board, or public decision maker | Recommend a lawful policy by integrating authority, objectives, alternatives, and implementation. |
| Persuasive | Closing argument or advocacy statement | Judge, jury, arbitrator, or hearing officer | Explain why the record satisfies the governing standard and warrants the requested result. |
Objective
3 complete work-product guides
01Objective memorandumSupervising attorney or internal legal team · Predict the likely legal result and explain uncertainty neutrally: the reader is deciding what to do next based on your analysis alone, so a memo that hides genuine uncertainty behind confident-sounding language actually does more damage than one that states plainly where the law or the facts leave real room for doubt.Open template →02Case evaluation or litigation strategy memoSupervising lawyer or litigation team · Evaluate claims, defenses, proof, exposure, and the next litigation decision.Open template →03Investigation or discovery planLegal team, investigator, or client team · Identify the information needed to test a legal theory and the lawful method for obtaining it.Open template →
Persuasive
3 complete work-product guides
01Persuasive brief or memorandumCourt or decision maker · Obtain a requested ruling through accurate, forceful application of the supplied law: persuasive does not mean overstated, and a brief that mischaracterizes a case's holding or quietly buries the one fact that cuts the other way tends to lose credibility with the decision maker long before it loses the actual argument.Open template →02Demand letterOpposing party, insurer, employer, or counsel · Secure a defined remedy by showing liability, harm, and the value of prompt resolution.Open template →03Closing argument or advocacy statementJudge, jury, arbitrator, or hearing officer · Explain why the record satisfies the governing standard and warrants the requested result.Open template →
Client
2 complete work-product guides
01Client advice letterClient without assumed legal training · Explain the law, likely outcome, practical options, and next steps in understandable language: a client reading this letter has no legal training to fall back on, so every term of art either gets translated on the spot or gets cut entirely, because a technically accurate letter the client can't actually use has failed at the one job it had.Open template →02Formal opinion letterClient, board, lender, or other relying party · State a legal opinion within defined assumptions, qualifications, and scope.Open template →
Judicial / public
3 complete work-product guides
01Bench memorandumJudge or judicial officer · Provide neutral decision support: issues, governing law, party positions, analysis, and recommended disposition.Open template →02Draft judicial opinionParties, reviewing court, and public · Resolve assigned issues with findings or reasoning supported by the supplied record and law.Open template →03Policy memorandum or proposalAgency, organization, board, or public decision maker · Recommend a lawful policy by integrating authority, objectives, alternatives, and implementation.Open template →
Transactional
3 complete work-product guides
01Negotiation planClient or negotiating team · Prepare objectives, authority, leverage, proposals, concessions, and implementation terms.Open template →02Settlement term sheet or agreementParties, counsel, and future enforcer · Convert resolution into complete, enforceable, operational terms.Open template →03Contract provisions with explanationClient and counterparty · Draft operative language that allocates a specified risk, then explain how it serves the client.Open template →