Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to feast your eyes upon the best of the best in the 2024 law revue video contest. This year, the competition was superb — and for the fifteenth edition of this contest, we decided to narrow down the competition to the top six videos.
Not only were these law students able to carry a tune (for the most part), but they also had excellent comedic timing, and provided us with professional-grade production values. Our finalists’ videos were an absolute joy with some recent and 90s/early aughts pop and rap earworms, providing an excellent soundtrack for this year’s law revue stylings.
This year, your reviewers will be Staci Zaretsky, Joe Patrice, Kathryn Rubino, and Chris Williams. We issue only advisory opinions; you hold all the power.
Who will follow the winners of years past into the annals of Law Revue history? It’s up to you, our readers! Do the right thing: vote early, and vote for the best.
Videos are listed in alphabetical order by school. Voting will close on FRIDAY, MAY 10, at 10 A.M. (Eastern time).
COLUMBIA — BAR PREP BARS
STACI: This is really well done, and I appreciate how difficult it must’ve been to rap to the beat and tune of one artist’s lyrics over another artist’s music. Great job.
JOE: I concur. It’s one thing to craft parody lyrics for one song, but developing an interwoven narrative between songs displays a lot of creativity. It also circumvents one of the most perennial pitfalls of this competition: focusing on one song can get way too repetitive if you aren’t careful.
KATHRYN: Well played. Catchy, clever. One of the more original mixes we’ve seen in this competition.
CHRIS: The goal was to have a rap battle so the loser would leave the oversaturated market and the video ends with more bar prep options than they started with? Modifying lyrics is nice and all, but let’s stick to the plot people!
GW – LAWZ BOP
STACI: I absolutely loved this one. It was like an entire year’s worth of great law revue entries in one video. Britney Spears, One Direction, and even Nickelback made appearances. TOOOOOOOOOOOOOTS!
JOE: Fabulous. One of the best entries in this competition in years. And another clever strategy to avoid letting a parody wear too thin. “And who the hell brings fireworks on a train?” is not only funny but asks a very serious, and underasked question about the law.
KATHRYN: Easily one of the best entries I’ve seen in years. Can’t wait for Lawz Bop 2 next year.
CHRIS: The Real Justice Scalia was great, star of the submission. Wish we got a side of Recuse Yourself to go with it. Maybe next year!
NYU — BAR REVIEW
STACI: This one made me miss all of my law school besties and the great times we had during bar review. I’m not crying, you’re crying. Nice work.
JOE: It does match the mood of the original song to a uniquely law school experience. But the risk of choosing an older song is the possibility that there are already good parodies out there and we’re all going to subtly judge this entry against those. Is this better than SMU’s version of “Law Review”? I dunno, but that’s all I’m thinking about. That said, not every voter has been forced to judge this competition for this many years.
KATHRYN: Solid entry, but really… Red Era? Law school feels a lot more Rep coded to me. Or maybe it’s really Midnights Era thanks to all those sleepless nights.
CHRIS: Stress eating instead of reading has been a personal mantra of mine for the last few years — finally, someone has crystalized my deepest emotions in a song! Was this actually written by Taylor Swift? Ignore Joe, this entry is great on its own.
NORTHWESTERN — MPRE
STACI: I never knew how badly I needed to see Alito and Thomas sing about their ethical misdeeds until I watched this video. Hilarious!
JOE: Live performances are kinda the kiss of death because the sound quality is so atrocious. But don’t be discouraged if you stop watching because there are solid lyrics in here and you can follow along on the board behind them.
KATHRYN: I appreciate using current events for inspiration. Playing the glaring ethical lapses of the most powerful court in the country for laughs can be a tricky ask, but well done.
CHRIS: Campy and well executed! Really liked the ethical — and literal — tug of war on stage.
TULSA — PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
STACI: Who ya gonna call? Ethics counsel! This was my favorite part and it passed the giggle test.
JOE: This should actually be worth CLE ethics credit. Fantastic work. Also, the answer is “communal” but it was funnier as is.
KATHRYN: Were they actually trying to write a Law Revue skit or cram for the MPRE????
CHRIS: This does such a fine job of inspiring frustration and chuckles that it should qualify as a really good pun. A really good entry that should probably also be in someone’s outline — hard to not Like That. I personally think the video should have ended at 3:28, but to each their own.
UVA — THE DOOR
STACI: Who doesn’t love a skit about dueling law review and law journal editors? Bonding over elitism is the happy ending law reviews need.
JOE: The LinkedIn dig sums up why I’m almost never on LinkedIn.
KATHRYN: Law school is cutthroat — some things never change.
CHRIS: Welp, this definitely counts as an entry! Has that going for it.
It’s time to vote, everyone. Polls close on FRIDAY, MAY 10, at 10 A.M. (Eastern time). Get out the vote among your friends and family. Congrats!
CLICK HERE TO VOTE.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.