"You teach yourselves the law, but I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush, and - if you survive - you leave thinking like a lawyer." ~ Professor Kingsfield.
Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr. is an eminent legal scholar and instructor in contracts at a prestigious law school (unnamed but commonly identified with Harvard).
Professor Kingsfield is both revered and reviled; his relentless pursuit of the Socratic method with its endless questioning has been known to bring his students to tears.
However, his seemingly unfeeling demeanor masks a deep sense of justice, and he often uses his influence behind the scenes to ensure a fair outcome for someone in trouble - usually with the beneficiary remaining unaware of his actions.
He was portrayed by John Houseman in The Paper Chase, first in the 1973 film directed and written by James Bridges from the 1971 novel by John Jay Osborn, Jr., and then in the 1978-79 & 1983-86 television series.
External Links[]
The Paper Chase at Wikipedia