Paula Franzese

Professor Franzese’s scholarship focuses on property law, fair housing, and government ethics, using empirical research to advance legislative reform in affordable housing and tenant rights. Her work examines the structural failures of the Fair Housing Act, habitability standards, and exclusionary zoning, championing the right to counsel for low-income residents facing eviction. She is West Publishing’s Legend of the Law on Property and the creator and series editor of the best-selling Short and Happy Guide books, featuring more than twenty titles that translate complex legal topics into accessible resources. She is a Fellow of both the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American Bar Foundation.

Nationally recognized for her excellence in law teaching, Prof. Franzese is profiled in the Harvard University Press publication What the Best Law Teachers Do. She has served as Special Ethics Counsel to Governor Richard J. Codey, Chair of the New Jersey State Ethics Commission, Vice-Chair of the Election Law Enforcement Commission and ethics advisor to U.S. Senator Cory Booker during his tenure as Mayor of Newark. Her work on behalf of government ethics reform earned her the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) Award, the highest national honor in the field.