Dr. Edward Finegan

Biography

Edward Finegan is a Professor Emeritus at the USC Gould School of Law, specializing in discourse analysis, language law, and language variation and change. He holds a joint appointment with the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, where he has contributed significantly to the field of legal writing. Finegan has worked as a consultant for various publishing houses and law firms, utilizing his expertise in forensic linguistics. His ongoing research explores the relationship between register variation and social dialect variation, as well as evolving attitudes towards language correctness and ethical practices in forensic consulting. Notable publications include 'Language: Structure and Use,' 5th edition, and 'Looking at Languages,' 4th edition. His academic background includes post-doctoral work at Harvard Law School as a Liberal Arts Fellow focusing on law and linguistics. Finegan has served in leadership roles in professional organizations, including as president-elect of the International Association of Forensic Linguists and as an editor-designate for 'Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America.'

Research Interests