Having received the appointment of tutor to the prince of Anhalt-Dessau, he took his doctor's degree at the University of Halle in 1788.

In the preface to his Beiträge zur civilistischen Bucherkenntniss der letzten vierzig Jahre (1828–1829) he gives a sketch of the condition of the civil law teaching at Göttingen at that time.

These were the evils which Hugo set himself to combat, and he became the founder of the German Historical School of jurisprudence which was continued and further developed by Savigny.

His magna opera are the Lehrbuch eines civilistischen Cursus (7 vols., 1792–1821), in which his method is thoroughly worked out, and Civilistisches Magazin (6 vols., 1790–1837).

Hugo was criticized, and ridiculed, by Karl Marx in the Rheinische Zeitung as a founder of the historical school and for justifying the "law of arbitrary power", among other things.