Preparing for finals doesn’t have to be scary!

One of my favorite ways to study for exams, especially as a 1L but even sometimes for some of my advanced required courses, was to analyze hypos in shows I was watching.

Whenever I studied (or now when I write), I struggled to do so in total silence—so I always had a show on that I had already watched enough times to not have to pay attention to it. One of those shows was Grey’s Anatomy. However, once I started law school and began learning things like Torts, Property, and Contracts, I found that Grey’s Anatomy had another benefit—hypos for me to practice for final exams with!

For example, there is an episode (S8:E23) where one of the residents, Alex Karev, who just accepted a full-time attending position at Seattle Grace Mercy West, gets offered a dream job at Johns Hopkins—so he tries to re-negotiate his contract. This was a great hypo for learning contract formation, validity, and defenses like Statute of Frauds.

In another episode (S8:E4), the doctors have to triage victims of a stampede from a comic con, where several nerds (and I say that supportively because I, myself identify as a nerd) are fighting over a TARDIS replica. This scenario (that lasts most of the episode) was great for me to test some of my personal property knowledge as I got ready for my Property exam.

There are lots of hypotheticals across subjects in Grey’s Anatomy—here are a few examples:

• Torts (plenty of fist fights and “apprehensions,” and of course LOTS of medical malpractice and battery)
• Criminal Law (battery, murder, fraud)
• Civil Procedure (they have a case that gets decided at summary judgment (S9:E11))
• Business Associations (after a horrific plane crash, many of the survivors form a new board of directors, which lasts several seasons, and includes decisions made by the board)

Of course, for criminal law and criminal procedure topics there are always a plethora of crime-based shows, including the many series of Law & Order and NCIS. If you’re curious, Reddit also has many of it’s own suggestions for show hypos across law school subjects.

So, as you get exam ready this fall—especially 1Ls who are always hungry for more practice problems—try to see if any of the shows or movies you’re currently watching help you to assess hypos. When you spot an issue, pause the show, write out or bullet point your rules and legal analysis, and then review it to see if you were on the right track. Bonus points if you and a friend do this together and help assess each other’s answers.

Happy Halloween & Happy Hypo-ing!

(Erica M. Lux)