Handing Out Diplomas at The Paper Chase

Law school is a tough place. So it's not too surprising that it takes some people a little longer to graduate. Eight years, however, does seem to be stretching it.

James T. Hart entered the hallowed halls of the nation's top law school in 1978. But when he finally receives his diploma, he will be saying goodbye, not just to Harvard Law School, but to the stage set of the famed series The Paper Chase.

Originally a novel by John J. Osbourn '67, The Paper Chase was made into a successful film and then into an unsuccessful and short-lived CBS television series. After several years of reruns on PBS, it was picked up by the cable network Showtime in 1983.

For three years Hart, played by actor James Stephens, and his classmates struggled with torts, contracts and civil procedures, as well as real world issues of abortion, anti-Semitism and civil rights. This year, Showtime producers decided that the students were at last ready to leave the nest and become lawyers, so in June the cable channel will show the first of five "graduation year" episodes. And in August, a final two-hour commencement program will end it all with a bang. But show producers wouldn't say what the future holds in store for the budding young lawyers. An associate position with Ropes and Gray? A public defender's position in Washington D.C.? Likewise, the actors who inhabited their roles for so many years are not sure where they will go next.

End With Dignity

"There's a limited universe to the number of stories that can dramatically take place in a law school," says Showtime's Vice President of current programming Brad Johnson. "It has run its logical course; we wanted to end the show with dignity."

"The actors are in their mid-30s, it's beginning to stretch credibility," he says.

Steven D. Ecker, a second-year Harvard Law student, agrees that the natural time to conclude is now. "They've gone through all three years. They have to cancel," says Ecker.

Osbourn, who graduated from Harvard Law in 1970, wrote The Paper Chase as a largely autobiographical portrayal of the anxiety and tension of his 1 L career. In the novel and film, Hart falls in love with the daughter of his arrogant professor, Charles W. Kingsfield Jr., played in the series by John Houseman. Osbourn admits that the show is "not an accurate reflection of Harvard Law School. It's Paper Chase Law School. It's our law school. I like Harvard better, but I'm very fond of the other."

The former Adams House resident, who has written one-third of the television scripts, says that the series conveys the lighter side of law school. "Our message is that it can be fun to go to the library."

"The day-to-day grind of libraries is very real," says Tom Fitzsimmons, whose character Ford is Hart's waspy fellow classmate. The Yale graduate said he had no qualms about playing a Harvard student, adding that his Ivy League experience helped him give Ford that Northeastern touch. "I went to school with guys [like the character] I played," says Fitzsimmons.

Michael Tucci, who played Jerry Golden, the head of the Law Review, calls The Paper Chase the classiest time he spent in the business. Although the location is never directly stated in the series, he says, "When I did it, I always thought of it as Harvard. Harvard's the best. It speaks for itself."

Tucci, a Brooklyn Law School graduate who worked as an assistant district attorney, says "When I got to Harvard, I mean Paper Chase, I felt smarter, more confident."

Boot Camp for the Brain

Harvard law students themselves disagree with the high-pressure image of law school as popularized by The Paper Chase.

"You come in here, and you've seen Paper Chase....You go through the first year wondering when all hell is going to break loose, and it never happens," says 3L Paul T. Cappuccir.

"Paper Chase is a lie," says second-year student William B. Lindsey. "It depicts this place as an intellectually stimulating marine boot camp for the brain."

Most law students say that the character of the intimidating Kingsfield, whom Osbourn claims is based on a composite of several of his law professors, no longer haunts the halls of the law school. Most professors don't teach in the Paper Chase manner of calling on people to answer questions in class, they say.

"Kingsfield alleges that the school makes minds of mush into sharp legal minds, but the enterprise here is a good deal more modest," Cappuccirsays.

Cappuccir adds that "students feel free to saythey're unprepared. Very few professors harass,heckle or criticize them."

One student who feels that law school was evenmore like The Paper Chase than she expectedis 3 L Susan E. Keller '83. "Paper Chaseaccurately captures the intense hierarchy of theclassroom in which the teacher has total power andtotal control over your self-esteem," sheexplains. "Its humor is derived from what waspainful for me as a 1L."

Glenn D. Fogel, a first-year student, thinksthat The Paper Chase's representation oflaw school is false. However he says, "I'm gladthe myth exists. You go into an interview; theythink you work really hard."

He adds, "I hope you're not going to publishthis and ruin us.