Every Wednesday at 7 pm, dozens of HLS students, somehow not completely burnt out by classes and clinics, flock to the Pub to compete in Pub Trivia. Teams answer six rounds of six to ten questions, hoping to garner the most total points by the end of the night. The top three teams receive their choice from three options of rotating wines and beers to share with the team.
The entire show runs smoothly in the hands of James Atlas, HLS ‘25, and Mackenzie Saunders, HLS ‘25, two students who have hosted the weekly event since their 2L fall semester. Atlas, the emcee, had experience guest hosting at Aeronaut in Somerville and worked in the pub during his 1L year, so he took over hosting duties after the former host graduated. Saunders is the master of scorekeeping and question co-writer.
Categories vary across weeks, but they often involve a healthy mix of science, politics, history, pop culture, and legal knowledge. On April 2, categories included “White Lotus” (naming flowers), “Book Was Better” (naming the book later adapted to a movie), and “Case Names”, a 25-question fill-in-the-blank worksheet for completing seminal case names.
Atlas and Saunders have a running Google Doc with categories and facts to draw from. “Sometimes I feel creative, and when I’m in one of those moods, I just try to generate as many of those things that come into my head. Otherwise, I pull from those ideas and make questions and fill that out,” Atlas said.
Occasionally, Atlas turns over hosting duties to a guest host, who often creates their own category and questions. “Last year, I had a Chevron-style approach to it where if [their work]wasn’t terrible, I would let them do it. This year it’s a Loper-Bright approach, and I decided I know better, so we revise their questions to make them fit,” Atlas said.
The overall competitive field changes each week, but a few devoted teams remain constant presences.
The Brady Bunch are a group of 2Ls who consistently make a strong showing, with several wins under their belt. Carlos Stinson-Maas, HLS ‘26, a team regular, noted that the team’s members and namesake harken back to their first year.
“The team name is based on our favorite professor from 1L, who was not our section leader but was important to our section, Professor Molly Brady. ‘The Brady Bunch’ just spun off that,” he said. Earlier this March, Professor Brady, made a guest appearance to ask questions in a Professor Brady-themed round.
Stinson-Maas appreciates the chance to see his former classmates even amidst a busy 2L year. “After 1L, you kind of drift, and being able to do this every week with a good chunk of the section is a really nice way to stay connected to people I don’t see all the time,” he said. “It’s very accessible because people of different ages and social activities all do it together. We all really commit to it and really love it.”
Some members are not as invested in the trivia itself, but still look forward to the gatherings that come from it. “I don’t contribute at all, but the team is very good, so I like to think that I’m smart because I’m on a good team. It’s great just to hang out and have fun. Every now and then, there’s a sports question and I can say, ‘I know that, I can contribute,’” said Parth Kotak, HLS ‘26.
Section Fun, a group of 1Ls currently in Section One, has never missed a week of trivia so far. They have similarly found trivia night to be a great opportunity for socialization, especially when starting out at a new school.
“Earlier this year I made a friend and he came to trivia, and now I come to trivia because I wanted to meet new people in my section,” said Becca Gray, HLS ‘27.
Some categories require a real intellectual workout, such as a category filled with questions from the foregone Logic Games section of the LSAT. “We ostracized two of our section members, Austin and Alex, and made them do the logic games. We just chatted while they did the actual work,” said Gray.
Atlas’ original team, Section 2 Good, 3Ls that often win the event, has also been holding strong since their 1L year. The name has held a special significance for them even beyond trivia. “Our section merch our 1L year was hats that said ‘Section 2 Good,’ so it wasn’t even just for trivia,” said Ellen Teuscher, HLS ‘25.
The team now consists of members outside of their original Section Two, including LLMs.
“Early on in our 1L year, we made a big effort to get our section mates together at trivia because it’s a great group event and you can squeeze a ton of people in,” said Peter Goeckner, HLS ‘25. “Some weeks we would have 20 or 30 of our classmates roll through throughout the night.”
Goeckner and the team are looking forward to a special trivia-inspired celebration they have planned during graduation season.
“This year, every time we’ve won, we took a drink home. We’ve been racking up wins this year, but we have yet to celebrate. We’ve been collecting all the drinks and are hosting a party right before we graduate, so we’re going to celebrate one last time.”
For all of the social value the teams derive, every single one is set on winning: See, e.g. “We love winning, and we do it all the time because we’re so good at trivia.” (Stinson-Maas, Brady Bunch), “We’ve been on the podium a lot. We’ve won a lot.” (Goeckner, Section 2 Good), “My favorite night was the first night we won, obviously.” (Sarah Lev, HLS ‘27, Section Fun).
Despite this competitiveness, Atlas and Saunders bring as much levity to the night as they can. “Mackenzie and I both have a comedy background with theater writing, so a lot of the time we choose to ask about things that are funny to ask about. We try to have a good mix between needing knowledge and everyone having a good time. It doesn’t need to be so difficult or serious. This is law school, so it should be the least serious thing people are doing,” Atlas said.
With Atlas and Saunders graduating this spring, the pub seeks a new weekly host. Although he does not plan to pick a successor, Atlas hopes the lively tradition of Pub Trivia will persist. “Trivia and bartending are pretty inseparable for me. HLS Pub Trivia is not just trivia. It wouldn’t be the same in some random bar in Boston or New York. I’d like it to be someone that’s been behind the bar or someone who comes here a lot because I want those things to be connected,” Atlas said.
After the close of every contest, the bartenders usher out the crowd with Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”; an apt and evergreen reminder for budding legal minds who get too competitive over a game.