couldn't resist ... 'Over thirty years have passed since Professor Kingsfield first appeared as a character in The Paper Chase.1 He instantly became a powerful symbol of what many thought was wrong with legal education.2 For many years, he remained synonymous with a particular form of the Socratic method, so demanding and unkind that it rendered students bitter, unhappy and cynical.3 Lest he fades from memory, both the novel and film have been reissued.4 As a result, Kingsfield is likely to continue to haunt prospective law students and to remain a foil for critics of traditional legal education.' |