University Distinguished Professor Bennett Gershman has been a professor of law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law since its founding as the Pace Law School in 1976. He has also taught as a visiting professor at Cornell Law School and Syracuse Law School. Prior to coming to Pace, Gershman was a prosecutor in the New York State Anti-Corruption Office, where he argued cases in state and federal courts involving public and political officials charged with corruption.
Gershman has written four books, more than 75 articles in law journals, and hundreds of book reviews, essays, and op-ed pieces. His treatise, Prosecutorial Misconduct, initially published in 1985 and now in its 2nd edition, has become a preeminent resource for scholars and practitioners seeking guidance on wrongful convictions.
As a leading authority in the country on prosecutorial misconduct, Gershman is continuously called upon by the news media for his expertise. He is routinely quoted by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal, as well as by a host of local publications. He has served as an expert witness on prosecutorial misconduct in numerous criminal cases. He also has devoted much of his time to training prosecutors and judges.
Professor Gershman was named a Pace University Distinguished Professor in 2020, the highest honor the University bestows upon faculty. His lifetime work was recognized in a special edition of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal law dedicated to and “In Honor of Prof. Bennett L. Gershman” in 2019. In 2022, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York Law Journal for his impact on the legal community and the practice of law over his entire career.
Attesting to his teaching effectiveness, Gershman has received the Outstanding Professor of the Year award from graduating students eight times in the past 20 years. His sensitivity to the student experience is evidenced by his book, The Law School Experience: Law, Legal Reasoning and Lawyering (2000; co-authored with Lissa Griffin), which seeks to demystify the experience of being a law student. Registration for his classes often closes quickly.
View all of Professor Gershman’s publications on SSRN, Digital Commons or download his CV (PDF).
Books:
Some Articles:
Criminal Procedure, Constitutional Law, Evidence, Prosecutorial Ethics and Misconduct
Professor Bennett Gershman of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University spoke with Bloomberg about the sentencing of ex-Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner in the 1MDB scandal, calling it “a critical illustration” of why such prosecutions matter.
In their Wall Street Journal article, “A Universal Injunction Compromise,” Pace Haub Law Professor Bennett Gershman and co-author Joel Cohen tackle the complex issue of universal injunctions, proposing a thoughtful solution to balance judicial oversight and executive authority. They argue for a mandatory short-term stay on injunctions to allow for swift appellate review—drawing on historical precedent from Holtzman v. Schlesinger, a Vietnam War-era case that illustrates how the courts can act quickly and decisively.
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Professor Bennett Gershman writes a piece in the New York Law Journal warning that efforts to end birthright citizenship violate the Constitution and long-standing Supreme Court precedent.