Question: who played walter briggs on law and order

title: Steven Hill
text: Hill became best known , and to an even greater degree than from his role in Mission : Impossible , as Adam Schiff in the NBC TV drama series Law & Order , a part that he played for 10 seasons , from 1990 to 2000 . Hill 's character was loosely modeled on the real former district attorney of New York , Robert Morgenthau , and Morgenthau reportedly was a fan of the character . Hill admitted that he found the character of Adam Schiff the hardest role he ever had , because of all the legal jargon he had to learn . `` It 's like acting in a second language , '' said Hill . Hill added that he agreed with the show 's philosophy , saying that `` there 's a certain positive statement in this show . So much is negative today . The positive must be stated to rescue us from pandemonium . To me it lies in that principle : law and order . '' Hill earned another Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series in 1997 .