Resolve assigned issues with findings or reasoning supported by the supplied record and law.
Judicial / public work product
How to write an MPT draft judicial opinion
A draft judicial opinion asks you to write as the court, resolving the issues assigned to you on the record and law the task supplies. The tone is authoritative, neutral and restrained, and the opinion has to be written for the parties, a reviewing court and the public at once. Graders look for a clear statement of the question and disposition, an accurate account of the facts or findings, the correct legal standard, and reasoning that connects each conclusion to a specific authority and fact. An opinion that reaches beyond the issues assigned, or that reads like advocacy for the winning side, loses points. Decide the result before drafting and let the reasoning explain why the other outcome was rejected. The framework below sets out the skeleton, the items to read for, and a rubric for scoring your draft.
AUDIENCEParties, reviewing court, and public
Authoritative, neutral, transparent, and restrained.
Parties, reviewing court, and public
Build this structure before drafting
- 1
Introduction and disposition
- 2
Background or findings
- 3
Legal standard
- 4
Issue-by-issue analysis
- 5
Holding and order
What to extract
- Facts the decision maker may treat as found
- Standard and burden
- Authority hierarchy
- Precise relief within power
Format-specific traps
- Advocacy language
- New facts not in the record
- Unnecessary dicta
- Holding broader than required
A usable opening
For the reasons below, the court ___ the motion because ___.
Score the finished product analytically
The authorities an opinion must use
NCBE's instructions say to concentrate on the materials in the File and Library. It says what you learned in law school provides general background, while the File and Library provide the specific materials you must work with. A draft opinion should rest its holding on those authorities and cite them as the exam allows.
You may use abbreviations and omit page references when citing Library cases.
Facts a draft opinion must find
NCBE says the File consists of source documents containing all the facts of the case and that it may include transcripts, pleadings, correspondence, records and lawyer's notes. Relevant as well as irrelevant facts are included.
An opinion states the facts it relies on. NCBE does not name a judicial opinion in its example task list, so follow the task memo for the assignment.
Practice walk-through: an opinion on a lease dispute
This scenario is invented for practice and is not NCBE material. The task memo asks you to draft an opinion for a trial court after a bench trial on whether a tenant owes back rent when a landlord failed to fix a heating system. The File has a trial summary with agreed and disputed facts. The Library has an invented statute reducing rent in proportion to lost use and one case measuring the reduction by months without heat. You are writing as the judge: decide, and stop when the assigned issues are decided.
Begin with the disposition in a sentence, then findings limited to the summary: "The heat was out from December 3 to February 10, and the tenant gave written notice on December 5." State the standard and burden, then apply the case's method: months without heat are counted from the notice, not the outage, so the reduction runs from December 5. Close with the order and exact figures. A losing draft adds a fact that was never in the trial summary, criticizes the landlord in the tone of an advocate, and rules on a side issue nobody asked the court to decide.
Targeted format drill
15-minute drill
Draft a holding sentence that resolves only the assigned issue and identifies the legal basis.
Questions about this format
What tone should an MPT draft judicial opinion use?+
Authoritative, neutral, transparent, and restrained.
What is the biggest trap?+
The most common failure in this format is advocacy language.
What materials does an MPT opinion draft rest on?+
The File and Library. NCBE says law school knowledge is general background and the File and Library are the specific materials you must work with.
Does the MPT File contain only relevant facts?+
No. NCBE says relevant as well as irrelevant facts are included, and facts are sometimes ambiguous, incomplete or conflicting.
Is a draft judicial opinion listed as an MPT task?+
NCBE's example list does not name it, so follow the task memo in the File for the exact document requested.
What kinds of documents can be in an MPT File?+
Transcripts of interviews, depositions, hearings or trials, pleadings, correspondence, client documents, contracts, articles, medical records, police reports or lawyer's notes.
What do parties and reviewing courts need from an opinion?+
Clear reasoning tied to the record and authorities, since the opinion is the explanation for a decision.
Should I put my name on MPT work product?+
No. NCBE's instructions say not to include your actual name anywhere in the work product required by the task memorandum.
Primary and official sources
NCBE: instructions for taking the MPT↗NCBE: preparing for the MPT↗NCBE: the Multistate Performance Test↗Judicial opinion (Wikipedia)↗More from the MPT document library
This draft judicial opinion is one of 14 formats in the MPT document library. Compare it against the Case evaluation or litigation strategy memo format and the Investigation or discovery plan format to see how structure and tone shift by document type.