Professor Leslie Tenzer Celebrates One Year of "Law to Fact" Podcast

Haub Law Professor Leslie Garfield Tenzer’s podcast, “Law to Fact,” recently celebrated its first anniversary and has been downloaded nearly 35,000 times. She describes the podcast as “the go to podcast for students in law school, going to law school or studying for the bar.”

The podcast episodes often center on a discussion with fellow law professors and discuss key topics in core law school classes.  So far, Professor Tenzer has covered areas including personal jurisdiction, homicide, proximate cause, landlord-tenant law, will contests, the statute of frauds, the Commerce Clause, and more. 

“I’m always looking to explore new technological outlets and I wanted to provide students with unique learning tools,” Professor Tenzer explained. “I had noticed that podcasts were gaining in popularity, so it seemed like making podcasts would be a way to impart information while providing me with an opportunity to learn a new medium.”

“At Pace Law, we bridge the gap between legal theory and practice and make the concepts discussed inside the classroom relevant and interesting,” said Dean Horace Anderson. “Professor Tenzer’s podcast is just one example of this and how our faculty make law school and legal concepts accessible to all.”

Each podcast is interview-based, with Professor Tenzer asking questions of a faculty expert in the topic being covered. “For my first Q&A interview format, I asked Professor Michael Mushlin, a Civil Procedure expert, to do a podcast with me. I interviewed him about the Erie Doctrine and it worked out beautifully.  I love this format much more than the straight lecture format and have received feedback from students that they prefer it as well.”

With each episode, Professor Tenzer has one goal in mind: to help students learn the law and how it applies to different factual situations (which is why she titled the podcast “Law to Fact”). “In each podcast I try to tease out three questions,” she said.  “First, what are the rules of the particular area of law we are discussing? Second, how would a student see this particular area of the law on the exam?  And finally, how should the student structure an answer if they see this area of the law on the exam?”

“Professor Tenzer’s podcast uses all of her strengths,” said Emily Waldman, Associate Dean for Faculty Development & Operations. “She’s such an experienced teacher of first-year law classes that, as podcast host, she can stand in for students and ask the questions that they want to know.  Her podcast is a great way for our professors and others to connect with students at Pace and beyond.”

As the podcast continues to gain followers, Professor Tenzer is expanding its scope.  “We have over 2,000 weekly followers and are now also discussing issues of relevance to law students beyond just learning the law.  We have episodes on the importance of social media, starting your own law practice, and have just started a four-part series on taking the bar exam.” More recent podcast topics have included social media strategies for law students and top tips for success on exams.

The “Law to Fact” podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify and Stitcher.com and at www.lawtofact.com. You can also follow “Law to Fact” on Twitter @lawtofact for updates on new podcasts and more.

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About Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University

Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law (Haub Law) offers J.D. and LL.M. degrees in both Environmental and International Law, as well as a series of joint degree programs including a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) in Environmental Law. The Law School, located on a beautiful University campus in White Plains, NY, opened its doors in 1976 and has over 8,500 graduates around the world. The Law School maintains a unique philosophy and approach to legal education that strikes an important balance between practice and theory. For more information visit http://law.pace.edu