American University Washington College of Law Names Cynthia Goode Works ’92 Director of Advocacy Program
September 27, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC — American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL) is pleased to announce the selection of criminal defense attorney, law professor, and advocacy consultant Cynthia Goode Works ’92 as the Director of the Stephen S. Weinstein Advocacy Program.
“Cynthia Goode Works brings a wealth of advocacy experience, curricular creativity, and enthusiasm to AUWCL’s highly ranked Advocacy Program,” stated Llezlie Green, Associate Dean of Experiential Education. “She is an outstanding advocate and teacher, with experience in both criminal and civil advocacy, law school teaching, and the development of advocacy training programs. We are confident that she will continue our tradition of excellence, and we are excited to watch the Advocacy program thrive under her leadership.”
An accomplished trial attorney who was named a 2020 "Top Lawyer" by Washingtonian Magazine, Goode Works currently maintains a private law practice located in D.C. and the Maryland suburbs handling complex and high-profile matters.
In accepting this position Goode Works said: “I am excited and honored to have the opportunity to return to my alma mater and advance the mission of excellence in advocacy that I experienced as a student at AUWCL. I also look forward to helping student advocates hone their skills, develop their craft and pursue their dreams in the legal profession.”
Upon graduation from law school, Goode Works completed a judicial clerkship in the District of Columbia Superior Court. Following her clerkship, she worked as a criminal defense attorney at the renowned D.C. Public Defender Service. Works then left criminal litigation and worked as a corporate and civil litigator and later as the Director of Training and Education for the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, where she was responsible for the program development and curriculum design of continuing legal education programs for civil legal aid attorneys and public defenders across the country.
Goode Works has a solid background in the academic arena, having held faculty appointments at George Mason University School of Law, Howard University School of Law, and AUWCL. At AUWCL, Goode Works has coached trial advocacy team students and taught evidence to 2L and 3Ls.
During her tenure as a professor at Howard, the advocacy team compiled an impressive number of accolades and titles, including being named as one of the top sixteen trial advocacy programs in the country, securing several regional championships, and culminating with winning the National Championship at the NITA Tournament of Champions Competition – a historic first for an HBCU. While there, she also taught in and managed the Criminal Justice Clinic component of the Law School's Clinical Law Center. Goode Works concentrated her legal research agenda and teaching activities in the fields of reentry, criminal law and procedure, evidence, and clinical education. For her scholarship, Goode Works received the Distinguished Faculty Author Award from the president and provost of the university.
In addition to the practice of law, Goode Works specializes in the development of advocacy training programs across the United States to law firms, corporations and government agencies. Most notably, she has served as a faculty member and program director for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in both their public and in-house training programs for almost 20 years, teaching in over 100 advocacy programs. She has also taught for Lawyers Without Borders and the National Center for State Courts in the Caribbean and Africa.
To complement the practice of law and the teaching of advocacy, Goode Works matriculated to Temple University, James E. Beasley School of Law’s innovative and highly selective LL.M. in Trial Advocacy Program where she received the Most Outstanding Advocate Award from her professors and peers. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University and holds a law degree from AUWCL.
Goode Works replaces Professor Cynthia Jones, who recently completed her two-year term as the Faculty Director of the Advocacy Program from 2019-2021. During her tenure, held mostly during the pandemic, Jones oversaw the LL.M. program, coordinated the international advocacy training program, and managed more than 45 adjunct faculty members, as well as the numerous advocacy courses offered each semester.
The Stephen S. Weinstein Advocacy Program trains students in all forms of legal advocacy, including trial and appellate litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and transactional negotiations. The Advocacy Program is currently ranked 12th nationally in the 2021 U.S. News and World Report and is regarded as one of the best advocacy programs in the country.