C. Edward Good

Of Counsel

Ed Good serves as Finnegan’s writer-in-residence. In this role, he provides writing skills training to the firm’s attorneys and other professionals. He also conducts in-house training programs for the firm’s clients.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Good served as a faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Law, heading the school's program in legal writing for all first-year students. In 1977, he took a one-year leave of absence from Virginia to serve as a Supreme Court Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States.

In 1980, Mr. Good started his own consulting service, providing seminars and on-site training programs in effective legal writing for law firms, corporations, and federal agencies across the country. His most ambitious program was developing and conducting a four-day training program in persuasive brief-writing for litigators at the Internal Revenue Service. More than 1,500 attorneys completed this intensive training, many ranking it the best training program they had ever attended.

Highlights

• Developer of IP e-Source® for Finnegan, a downloadable compilation of federal statutes and regulations governing IP law. IP e-Source® also includes the full text of the MPEP, TBMP, TMEP, and the Federal Rules of Procedure (Civil, Appellate, Evidence, Federal Circuit).
• Developer of Lawmanac—Clickable Help for Legal Writers, featured at LegalWriting.com.
• Developer of GrammaRight—Clickable Help for Writers, featured at Grammar.com.

Professional Activities

• Conducted training programs in legal writing for Philips Electronics in Shanghai, China, and at corporate headquarters in Holland.
• Conducted training programs for a variety of Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and Europe.

Select Publications

• A Grammar Book for You and I … Oops, Me!, Capitol Books, 2002; Literary Guild Selection; Book-of-the-Month Club Selection.
• Mightier than the Sword (1989).
• Citing & Typing the Law (1991).
• Legal Research ... Without Losing Your Mind (1993).
• "The 'Writer-in-Residence': A New Solution to an Old Problem," Michigan Business Law Journal, 1995.
• "'To Be' or Not 'To Be': An Easy Way to Improve Legal Writing," Trial Magazine, May 1995.
• "Winning with Plain Language," Trial Magazine, Oct. 1995.