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.
Persuasive work product
How to write an MPT persuasive brief or memorandum
A persuasive brief or memorandum asks you to win a ruling for one side using only the law and record the task supplies. The MPT wants advocacy that stays accurate: examiners reward the writer who argues from the strongest facts and authorities, frames the issue so the client's rule sounds like the natural one, and deals with the best adverse authority instead of ignoring it. Overstating a holding or leaving out a damaging fact costs more than it gains, because the grader is checking your statements against the file. Start with a point heading that states a conclusion, apply the law to the facts under it, and answer the other side's strongest argument in the same section. The framework below gives the skeleton, the items to read for, and a rubric you can score your own draft against.
AUDIENCECourt or decision maker
Confident and favorable without misstating facts or authority.
Court or decision maker
Build this structure before drafting
- 1
Caption or heading only if requested
- 2
Statement of issue or argument
- 3
Argument headings that state reasons
- 4
Rule synthesis and authority
- 5
Fact-specific application and rebuttal
- 6
Requested conclusion
What to extract
- Standard of review or burden
- Most favorable rule formulation supported by authority
- Record facts supporting the requested result
- Adverse authority that must be distinguished
Format-specific traps
- Omitting the requested relief
- Overstating a case holding
- Ignoring an obvious counterargument
- Using inflammatory tone instead of analysis
A usable opening
The court should ___ because the governing test requires ___, and the record establishes ___.
Score the finished product analytically
What NCBE says about the authorities you will cite
NCBE lists a persuasive memorandum or brief among the MPT's possible tasks. Its instructions say the Library contains the legal authorities needed and may also include irrelevant ones. Any cases may be real, modified or written solely for the exam, so read them thoroughly as if they were all new to you.
The instructions say to assume the cases were decided in the jurisdictions and on the dates shown. In citing Library cases, you may use abbreviations and omit page references. Cite the Library, not your memory of a similar case.
Reading the courts in the problem
NCBE's instructions say the problem is set in the fictitious state of Franklin, in the fictitious Fifteenth Circuit of the United States. Columbia and Olympia are also fictitious states in that circuit. In Franklin the trial court of general jurisdiction is the District Court, the intermediate appellate court is the Court of Appeal and the highest court is the Supreme Court.
Knowing that hierarchy helps you decide which authorities to lead with and which adverse authority to distinguish.
Practice walk-through: a brief on a suppression motion
This scenario is invented for practice and is not NCBE material. The task memo asks for a persuasive brief for the defendant arguing that a warrantless search of a locked toolbox in a parked truck should be suppressed. The Library has an invented rule that a vehicle search may cover containers only when the police have probable cause tied to the container, and two cases: one that upheld a search of a bag left in plain view on a seat, and one that suppressed a search of a locked case where the tip named only the driver. Read the cases for the facts that decided them, because the brief wins or loses on the comparison.
Write argument headings that state a reason, not a topic: "The toolbox search fails because the tip never mentioned the toolbox." Then synthesize the rule from both cases, distinguish the bag case on visibility and lock, and analogize to the locked-case case on the tip. Do not hide the bad fact. If the officer smelled something at the truck door, say it and explain why the smell attached to the cab and not the box. A losing draft cites only the favorable case, describes the plain-view bag case as 'similar,' and closes with 'the search was unreasonable' as a bare conclusion. The reader needs to see the opposing case addressed in the defendant's own words.
Targeted format drill
15-minute drill
Draft two argumentative point headings that contain a legal reason and a decisive client fact.
Questions about this format
What tone should an MPT persuasive brief or memorandum use?+
Confident and favorable without misstating facts or authority.
What is the biggest trap?+
The most common failure in this format is omitting the requested relief.
Can an MPT persuasive brief cite cases I remember from law school?+
Rely on the Library instead. NCBE's instructions say Library cases may be real, modified or written for the exam, so read them as if new.
How should I cite Library cases in an MPT answer?+
NCBE's instructions say you may use abbreviations and omit page references when citing cases from the Library.
What courts appear in MPT problems?+
The fictitious state of Franklin, with a District Court as trial court, a Court of Appeal and a Supreme Court, in the fictitious Fifteenth Circuit, per NCBE.
Does the Library contain only relevant authority?+
No. NCBE says the Library may include authorities that are not relevant, so you must extract the principles you need.
Is a persuasive brief an MPT task type?+
Yes. NCBE lists a persuasive memorandum or brief among the tasks examinees might be instructed to complete.
When is the MPT administered?+
On the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in February and July, according to NCBE, and NCBE's page lists February 23, 2027, July 27, 2027 and February 22, 2028.
Primary and official sources
NCBE: preparing for the MPT↗NCBE: instructions for taking the MPT↗NCBE: the Multistate Performance Test↗Brief (law) (Wikipedia)↗More from the MPT document library
This persuasive brief or memorandum is one of 14 formats in the MPT document library. Compare it against the Client advice letter format and the Demand letter format to see how structure and tone shift by document type.