A young Minnesotan, Hart, is accepted to prestigious Harvard Law School. He and his fellow first-years struggle to stay afloat in an academic world of high pressure and intense competition. Hart quickly learns that at Harvard, top grades are the difference between success and failure. To complicate the issue, Hart becomes transfixed by an awe-inspiring professor, Kingsfield, and strives to prove himself in the arena of his brilliant but cruel classroom. While pushing himself to the brink, Hart falls in love with Susan and is stunned when he discovers that she is Professor Kingfield’s daughter. As Hart’s feelings intensify for Susan so do his doubts as to whether the practice of law is to be his life’s calling.