paula franzese - a short and happy guide to

80 Pine | Alumni News
›› Vol. 4 | Fall 2014
eye on alumni
paula
franzese
by Stacey G. Zyzyck
The Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law at Seton
Hall Law School, award winning educator and
author, nationally renown ethicist and former
Cahill associate shares her perspectives on the
nobility of the legal profession.
aula Franzese may have begun her career as a lawyer at
Cahill, but, looking back, it seems clear to her that she had
always been on the path to becoming an educator. “Even
as a child, I realized that education is the great equalizer and
knowledge is power,” she said. As the eldest of four children
in a close-knit, Italian family, Franzese was the first to apply to
graduate school. On that day, Franzese’s father sat her down and
told her she could go to any law school she pleased. He then
took out a map, drew a ten-mile wide circle around the family’s
Brooklyn home, and added the caveat, “so long as it is inside this
circle.” This was a familiar occurrence by now, as he had issued
the same edict when Franzese applied to college. Fortunately,
Columbia Law School and Cahill both fell inside that circle.
As a law student, “I fell in love with the promise and power of
teaching,” Franzese said. As a Teaching Fellow, Franzese discovered that “understanding the rule of law equips students to
promote the rule of reason, fairness, and equal access to justice.”
Franzese was attracted to Cahill because of its “reputation for excellence without pretense,” and, following her clerkship with Hon.
Alan B. Handler in the New Jersey Supreme Court, she joined the
firm as an associate.
Franzese’s penchant for teaching was reinforced by her time in
private practice at Cahill. Her Cahill mentors – including Floyd
Abrams, Susan Buckley, Patricia Farren, Charlie Gilman, Bill
Hartnett, Dean Ringel, Kevin Castel, Tom Kavaler and Peter
Sloane – inspired her to pursue her career as a law professor.
These mentors supported her success because, even when their
estimations of her promise exceeded her own, she rose to meet
the challenge as she “could not bear to let them down.” During
her three year tenure at the firm, among other efforts Franzese
assisted on the defense of NBC against claims of libel, served
on behalf of the New York Racing Association and worked on
commercial breach of contract actions. She also served on the
Governor’s Task Force on Life and Law and the NYC Housing
©2014
All Rights Reserved
Court Reform Initiative. In line with her own love of teaching, she
helped to coordinate Cahill’s Mentor Program, which paired law
firms with city high schools. Through these experiences she saw
firsthand the value of effective counsel for those in need. “There
can be no justice without just lawyers. As lawyers, and particularly Cahill lawyers, we are vested with an imprimatur of expertise,
influence and authority that brings hope to bleak contexts and the
rule of reason to seeming chaos,” she explained.
It was clear to Franzese that her life’s work would be vesting others with the same imprimatur. So, she left Cahill to become a law
professor at Seton Hall. Today, she is among the nation’s most
prominent educators and authors. Selected as one of only 26
law professors from across the country to be featured in the new
Harvard University Press book, What the Best Law Teachers Do,
Franzese is described there as “a dazzlingly effective model of
rigor, hard work, creativity, and humility.” In addition, as a BarBri
lecturer, Franzese has helped thousands of aspiring lawyers pass
the bar exam through her property law, commercial paper, and
secured transactions lectures. Adding much needed levity to
a summer of intense study, Franzese’s lessons are punctuated
by anecdotes of her family’s claim to the creation of Penne alla
Vodka and lighthearted renditions of songs such as “It Takes Two
Baby (To Make an Easement Appurtenant).” Her love of a good
song may have started here at Cahill, where, in her first year,
Franzese led her class in a holiday skit that included hits such as
“Don’t Cry for Me Cahill Gordon” and “Girl Partners Just Want to
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80 Pine | Alumni News
›› Vol. 4 | Fall 2014
Have Fun.” Musical talents aside, Franzese’s accomplishments
as a lawyer and teacher continue to multiply. She is currently the
Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School
of Law; has authored over 20 publications; has led ethics reform
initiatives on behalf of three governors; has drafted the national
model of the Uniform Code of Ethics; and, perhaps most dear
to her, Franzese is an unprecedented, ten-time recipient of the
Student Bar Association’s Professor of the Year Award.
acknowledges the many demands on the reader’s time and the
importance of cultivating joy when meeting those demands.
Her books also issue a call to service, as all royalties support
public interest law fellowships. Franzese felt this was necessary
because too many individuals are denied effective assistance
of counsel, and too many law students, saddled with significant
debt, simply cannot afford to serve in the public interest.
Franzese has balanced her professional success with raising two
children. When asked how she balances work and life, Franzese
doesn’t see the two as distinct undertakings. “I endeavor to live
with integrity, an integration of all aspects of the self. I am a
better lawyer and teacher because I am a parent, and I am a
better parent because I am a lawyer and teacher.” Case in point,
her son Michael inspired the two most recent books in her series
A Short and Happy Guide. The summer before Michael departed
for college, Franzese decided to write him a letter every day, setting forth all she knew as an educator and a parent about how to
achieve success and significance. Each letter focused on a
different topic, including how to do well in class, make a good
first impression, endure heartbreak, handle rejection, write a good
exam, craft an effective resume, and seek out and find good
mentors. Upon receiving the sixtieth letter, Michael asked, “Mom,
why don’t you just write a book?” So, she wrote two: A Short and
Happy Guide to Being a College Student and A Short and Happy
Guide to Being a Law Student. The title of the series implicitly
About the Author
Stacey G. Zyzyck is a litigation associate who joined the firm in
2009 following her graduation from University of Pennsylvania Law
School. Stacey earned her undergraduate and Masters degrees
from Carnegie Mellon University. She is currently seconded to Credit
Suisse in New York.
Short & Happy Guides 2014
A Short & Happy Guide to Being a Law
Student includes essential wisdom
for the study of law and life. A Short
& Happy Guide to Being a College
Student imparts essential wisdom for
your studies and life.Learn from the unprecedented ten-time
recipient of the Professor of the Year award how to be your
best in and out of class.
As lawyers, we are uniquely
situated to be givers of hope.
Without justice, there is no hope.
A good lawyer defies the push of
the crowds and takes a stand
for the underdog.
©2014
All Rights Reserved
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