Adam Schiff (Law & Order)

For the U.S. Congressman of the same name, see Adam Schiff.

Adam Schiff is a fictional character on the TV drama series Law & Order. He was played by Steven Hill from 1990 to 2000. Schiff was one of the main characters of the series and appeared in every episode of the first ten seasons, with the exception of the pilot.

Character overview

Schiff is District Attorney of New York County. As insinuated in an episode, Schiff is a graduate of Columbia University. He is a pragmatic Democrat of faintly liberal stripe, but regardless of political inclinations, he is never perturbed by his critics nor by uncooperative judges. Political persuasions sometimes cloud his decisions with regard to certain cases such as the death penalty, however. According to the episode "Aftershock", he wrote a brief protesting the death penalty in 1971. He is also pro-choice.

While he is often stern and unforgiving in his professional conduct, he has amicable relationships with his assistants. He is closest to Benjamin Stone (Michael Moriarty), seeing him as a kind of surrogate son, and so is disturbed to see him resign when a witness he is trying to protect is murdered. His relationship with Stone's successor, Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), is more problematic, as McCoy is more ruthless and unconventional, and his habitual bending of trial rules occasionally garners Schiff some bad publicity. The two eventually grow to like and respect each other, however. Schiff is more critical of the junior assistant DAs, especially Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy), whom he sees as too idealistic to do her job effectively.

He has many friends among New York's elite, including powerful politicians, judges, and businessmen. Over the show's run, however, many of these friends prove themselves to be either corrupt or hiding dark secrets. For example, one of his closest friends, Judge Edgar Hynes, commits suicide after being caught taking bribes; another, Carl Anderton (Robert Vaughn), a high-powered CEO, is discovered to be suffering from bipolar disorder and attempts to arrange an unjust punishment for his similarly affected grandson to hide his own condition.

Schiff's wife dies of complications from a stroke, after he elects to remove her from a ventilator while she is in a vegetative state. Their son, Josh, is mentioned in several episodes, as are Josh's own wife and son, but he never appears onscreen.

Schiff leaves the DA's office to accept a role in coordinating commemorations of the Holocaust Project. He goes on to work with Simon Wiesenthal. He is replaced by Nora Lewin (Dianne Wiest).

Despite having left the DA's office a year earlier, Schiff is portrayed by Steven Hill on the 6 October 2001 episode of Saturday Night Live, satirising the Law & Order spin-off franchise in a trailer for the fictional Law & Order: Parking Violations Unit.

During the 19th season, Schiff is mentioned to be in Zimbabwe with former President Jimmy Carter.

The character of Adam Schiff may be based upon long-serving New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.