As we approach Spring Break, I am definitely coming out of the school mood, and this article is no different. I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan, so I thought it would be fun to give law school classes their Taylor song. Of course I thought of multiple songs for each class, but I landed on the ones I thought made the most sense.

Civil Procedure: “Welcome to New York” from 1989. Taylor’s (alleged) primary residence is her New York apartment. She is always being photographed leaving some NYC restaurant with her friends or Travis Kelce. But since she’s been with Travis, she’s also been spending a lot of time with him in the suburbs of Kansas City. She also has a music management company based in Nashville. On top of all that, she owns properties in Tennessee, California, and Rhode Island. She is a civil procedure professor’s dream personal and subject-matter jurisdiction exam question (I am speaking from experience).

Contracts: “You’re Not Sorry” from Fearless. Some of the cases in this class are ruthless! People are constantly being taken advantage of! Think of all of the relationships that ended so poorly because of a contract. And the ones taking advantage were probably never really that sorry. 

Torts: “tolerate it” from evermore. The emotional distress anthem. Taylor sings about someone who barely acknowledges her, neglects her needs, and treats her indifferently. All of her love and effort is merely tolerated, never reciprocated. Whether emotional distress is inflicted upon Taylor intentionally, recklessly, or negligently, if she has enough to show the person’s conduct is outrageous, she may have a claim. Considering the way this song wrenches my heart, I am going to say she gets a pass. I indirectly feel emotional distress from these lyrics! There are also themes of foreseeability, and by this person’s actions, whether or not Taylor reasonably knew that something bad would come from the way she is being treated.

Property: “the last great american dynasty” from folklore. This song is about a woman who makes a house her home. The lyrics suggest the home has been passed from Rebekah, the keys eventually ending up in Taylor’s hands. Logistically speaking, there must have been a transfer of the deed, a mortgage payment (perhaps on a lien theory), and if Taylor were the prudent property-owner, she probably had her deed recorded.

Constitutional Law: “You Need to Calm Down” from Lover. Well… yes!

Criminal Law: “Getaway Car” from reputation. Okay, there are so many Taylor songs that fit into this category (e.g., the entirety of reputation, “no body no crime,” “Bad Blood,” “Better Than Revenge,” etc.). But I had to choose one, and I will think of “Getaway Car” as speaking for the masses. Of course, we know the song is about her leaving a relationship to be with someone else, however she analogizes the experience to committing a crime. Taylor hatches a conspiracy to leave in the getaway car, and she recruits a partner to do this with. There is a conspiratorial agreement, a substantial step taken by getting in the car, and a mens rea of intent to carry it through.

Law Practice: “Speak Now” from Speak Now. In this song, Taylor quite literally leads with the conclusion. If she doesn’t speak now, the guy she wants to be with will get married! In Law Practice, leading with the conclusion is drilled into our brains. Courts don’t like it when lawyers hide the ball from them. This title track is about taking initiative and clearly making your point. 

Evidence: “The Man” from Lover. If Taylor Swift were a man, she’d probably be treated differently. Most women have likely felt that way before: a character trait expressed by a woman is viewed as negative, while for a man would be praised or rewarded. This song is the epitome of what Rule 404 character evidence tries to protect against. In “The Man,” Taylor is arguing that she is not being judged for her actions, but instead for her status and identity. Her haters are thus making character-based judgments, or coming to conclusions about her conduct solely from her traits and reputation. 

Corporations: “Father Figure” from The Life of a Showgirl. This song is about Taylor taking back her power from Scott Borchetta, or a larger statement about taking control from men in the music industry. These themes have been woven throughout her albums, from “Mean” in Speak Now (about music critic Bob Lefsetz) to “Karma” in Midnights (about Scooter Braun). In Corporations, we learn about power struggles between a company’s board and its shareholders and how companies protect its workers from liability. “Father Figure” explores similar dynamics that Taylor experienced in working with big names in music management. 

Professional Responsibility: “Better Man” from Red. Taylor thinks about how life could have been different if the man she had been with was a better man. Maybe a lot of lawyers wouldn’t have gotten suspended or disbarred if they had been better men and women.

What a fun mental exercise! Considering the breadth of her discography and the many ways you can interpret her lyrics as well as law classes, the possibilities are almost endless for which songs fit into which classes.

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Alexandra Staller is a 2L student at BC Law and Vice President of the Impact blog. Contact her at stallera@bc.edu.