Initially, Jeff tends to be manipulative and dismissive towards his study group, but gradually shows an increasing respect and appreciation for the other group members, and treats them as friends. Jeff enjoys being in positions of authority and command and acts as the effective leader of the group. It becomes apparent that several members of the group rely on him playing this patriarchal role, though Pierce Hawthorne, as an elder male and the most sociopathic member of the group, naturally resists and tends to insult Jeff whenever he can, despite Pierce's lack of wit. Yet in episode "Spanish 101," Jeff develops a detente with Pierce. The other members have also bristled at the way Jeff is the "obvious" person to be their group leader but regularly mocks or disregards such responsibilities, leading to times when they have been receptive to leadership from other members (particularly Troy). By the end of Season 3, Jeff has reconciled his roles as suspended lawyer and head of the study group: he ignores his sleazy former law colleague's promise/threat to either get Jeff back into the firm or ruin his career based on whether he throws Shirley's sandwich-shop case, wins the proceeding for her, and accepts Shirley and Pierce's joint offer to have him serve as managing counsel for their new joint shop venture. Because of his background experience as a lawyer and his confidence, many people, including Dean Pelton and Señor Chang, seek help from Jeff. Jeff's adventures include stints as a member of the debate team and substitute glee club, and editor of the school newspaper, as well as efforts to improve Chang's professional and love lives. Due to his competitive nature and air of superiority, Jeff has a difficult relationship with his accounting, billiards, and pottery professors, and he ends up doing poorly in their classes. One of his remarkable traits is his perfectly unkempt hair, and the mystery of how he maintains its bed-headed perfection, which Dean Pelton describes as "crispy" to the touch. As the show progresses Jeff starts dealing with his anxious and hateful feelings towards his father, who abandoned him. "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking" presents his issues with the latter. By the end of the episode, Jeff has realized that he has many things to say to his father, many of which came out towards Pierce when Jeff attacked him in a fit of rage. In addition, in one of the timelines of "Remedial Chaos Theory," Pierce brings up the subject of Jeff's father, which Jeff immediately evades.