Paula Ann Franzese is an American legal scholar based in New Jersey who focuses on government ethics and property law. She is the Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law at the Seton Hall University School of Law. Franzese is an educator who has been named one of the 26 best law teachers in the United States. She is also a prominent advocate for government ethics reform, a spokesperson for legal education, a housing advocate, and an author.

Career

Franzese graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a Bachelor's degree from Barnard College, Columbia University. Franzese received a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School and won several academic prizes, including the Rosenman Prize for excellence in public law courses. Franzese became a professor of law at Seton Hall Law School in 1986, and she later became the Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law at Seton Hall. In 2020, she was named one of the Top Women in Law by the New Jersey Law Journal.

Scholarship

Franzese's scholarship focuses on two main areas of the law: government ethics and property law. Her research into property law includes landlord-tenant reform, common interest communities including homeowners' boards, and affordable housing, including a legal analysis of the Mount Laurel doctrine. In addition to her scholarship, Franzese wrote two general-purpose guidebooks for students, including A Short & Happy Guide To Being A College Student and A Short & Happy Guide To Being A Law Student. Franzese has advocated for a right to counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction and moderated fair housing programs. Franzese has written about the law as an instrument for social justice in the New Jersey Law Journal, has received national attention for her scholarship on the struggles of indigent tenants, and has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2017 Justice Marie Garibaldi Award for Distinguished Service and Excellence. Her research and recommendations have been used by legislatures to formulate key ethics reform legislation.

Teaching

Franzese was featured as one of the 26 best law teachers in the nation in the book What the Best Law Teachers Do and has been named as an Exemplary Teacher by the American Association of Higher Education. In 2019, the Seton Hall Student Bar Association's Professor of the Year Award was renamed the Paula A. Franzese Professor of the Year Award in her honor after she won the award 10 times. Franzese was recognized as one of twenty Inspiring Women in Education by SheKnows media for her volunteer efforts teaching middle school students civics and has presented on education as a human right at the UN International Human Rights Summit. Franzese pioneered the cause of law-related and civic education during her tenure as President of the Justice Resource Center, the largest non-profit provider of law-related and civic education for grades four through twelve. Franzese also lectured for ten years at BarBri, a bar-exam preparation firm, serving as its national lecturer on property law. Franzese urges that law professors emphasize a "conceptual, contextual and empathetic understanding." Franzese encourages law students to have empathy with others as a way of better understanding the law and becoming more effective lawyers. At Seton Hall Law, she is the director of The Leadership Fellows Program. The Program includes "a distinguished speakers series, mentoring component and opportunities for experiential learning that include implementation of a community-based leadership project." She has written on the benefits of a J.D. degree and reasons to go to law school.

Ethics and Reform Advocacy

Franzese is an advocate of ethics reform. As Special Ethics Counsel, she and retired Justice Daniel J. O'Hern promulgated the Uniform Ethics Code in New Jersey, a pioneering statutory achievement that has become a model for national replication. She has published and presented on best practices for ethics reform and restoring the public trust. She received the National Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) Award, the highest honor conferred by the organization, in recognition of her "significant, demonstrable and positive contributions to the fields of campaign finance, elections, ethics, freedom of information and lobbying over a significant period of time." In 2014 and again in 2016, Franzese criticized the administration of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, stating that officials in the administration conflated their official duties with campaign efforts.

Publications

Law Review articles

Books and book chapters