Edward Goolsby

Partner

Edward Goolsby

Partner

  • P: 713-600-4964
  • F: 713-655-0062
  • egoolsby@azalaw.com
  • vCard

Edward “Ward” Goolsby focuses on complex commercial litigation, trade secret litigation, oil and gas-related litigation, and employment litigation. Mr. Goolsby has tried several cases to verdict, where he has played key roles in giving opening and closing statements, examining witnesses, and crafting successful trial strategies from start to finish.

He was named on the 2021 and 2022 Texas Rising Stars lists for his excellence in business litigation. Rising Stars, which is compiled by Thomson Reuters’ Texas Super Lawyers, honors leading attorneys age 40 and younger and those who have been in practice no more than 10 years.

A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, Mr. Goolsby was editor-in-chief of the Houston Law Review. He served as a judicial intern to both the Hon. Jerry Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and the Hon. Adele Hedges of the 14th Court of Appeals of Texas.

Mr. Goolsby, who graduated with highest honors from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, has won scholarships and awards for his writing and communications skills, including the Susman Godfrey L.L.P. Award for Outstanding Paper in the Area of General Litigation in 2013 during law school.

Before law school, he worked in television news, both as a reporter in Lansing, Michigan, and as a news producer in Houston. During college he won an Emmy Award for Best Student Newscast while serving as news director and anchor of the Northwestern News Report.

Edward “Ward” Goolsby focuses on complex commercial litigation, trade secret litigation, oil and gas-related litigation, and employment litigation. Mr. Goolsby has tried several cases to verdict, where he has played key roles in giving opening and closing statements, examining witnesses, and crafting successful trial strategies from start to finish.

He was named on the 2021 and 2022 Texas Rising Stars lists for his excellence in business litigation. Rising Stars, which is compiled by Thomson Reuters’ Texas Super Lawyers, honors leading attorneys age 40 and younger and those who have been in practice no more than 10 years.

A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, Mr. Goolsby was editor-in-chief of the Houston Law Review. He served as a judicial intern to both the Hon. Jerry Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and the Hon. Adele Hedges of the 14th Court of Appeals of Texas.

Mr. Goolsby, who graduated with highest honors from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, has won scholarships and awards for his writing and communications skills, including the Susman Godfrey L.L.P. Award for Outstanding Paper in the Area of General Litigation in 2013 during law school.

Before law school, he worked in television news, both as a reporter in Lansing, Michigan, and as a news producer in Houston. During college he won an Emmy Award for Best Student Newscast while serving as news director and anchor of the Northwestern News Report.

Representative Engagements

  • In 2021, as lead counsel, successfully secured the dismissal in favor of Turkey Leg Hut on all claims that had been brought against it. See more here.
  • Successfully helped an energy industry client obtain a critical June 2020 injunction to stop a former employee from improperly using confidential client information to aid a competitor. At the injunction hearing, Mr. Goolsby cross-examined the president of the competing company. See more here.
  • As lead counsel, successfully opposed a national airline’s mandamus before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to stop discovery in a race discrimination case. The case attracted media attention in California.
  • In January 2019, argued before the Delaware Supreme Court on behalf of CITGO Petroleum Corporation in Sunline Commercial Carriers, Inc. v. CITGO Petroleum Corp.
  • In 2018, he successfully defended a family-owned insulation company against a negligence suit. He took three witnesses on direct examination, cross examined a fourth witness, and delivered a closing argument.
  • In 2017, successfully tried a case on behalf of an energy client suing an insurance company that refused to pay for an offshore rig’s hurricane damage. He played an instrumental role in the presentation of the evidence in a six-week trial that ended in a $41.6 million jury verdict that included $27.3 million in punitive damages and $10.9 million for bad faith. The case was one of the top 100 2017 verdicts in the nation according to the National Law Journal. At trial, Mr. Goolsby directed two expert witnesses and gave half of the opening statement.
  • In 2016, successfully defended a family real estate company at trial against fraudulent transfer claims. The plaintiff, the trustee for a bankrupt real estate company, decided to drop his case three weeks into the trial after AZA cross-examined his damages expert. See more here.

EDUCATION

  • University of Houston Law Center, JD. summa cum laude
    • Ranked #5 of 253
    • Order of the Coif
    • Order of the Barons
    • Editor in Chief – Houston Law Review Board 51
    • Writer for ABA Media Alerts Project for Fifth Circuit cases (Spring 2013)
    • Tutor for Prof. Craig Joyce’s Torts class (Fall 2012)
    • Mock Trial Team Member (Fall 2011 – Spring 2013)
    • American Law Institute CLE Scholarship and Leadership Award (Spring 2014)
    • Susman Godfrey L.L.P. Award for Outstanding Paper in the Area of General Litigation (Spring 2013)
    • LEX Certificate Awards – Highest Grade in Legal Research and Writing, Constitutional Law, Property, and Law Practice Strategies (2011 – 2012)
  • Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism, B.S. summa cum laude in Journalism and Political Science
    • Josephine B. and Newton N. Minow Prize in Communications – Outstanding communication skills and an accomplished academic and campus career (Fall 2010)
    • William C. Fyffe Memorial Award – Best broadcast journalism student at Northwestern (Spring 2010)

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • State Bar of Texas
  • U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Courts for the Western District of Texas
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS

  • Rising Star Award – University of Houston Law Center Alumni Association (May 2023)
  • Texas Rising Star honors as presented by Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters Business,  (2021-2023)
  • University of Houston Law Center Dean’s Society, Member
  • University of Houston Law Center 100% Challenge Alumni Donation Campaign, Captain for AZA
  • University of Houston Law Center Law Gala Auction Committee, Member (2019, 2020)
  • Texas Bar Foundation Fellow
  • Board of Directors of the Houston Law Review (April 2014 – October 2017, October 2022-present)
  • Emmy Award – Anchor/News Director for the Best Student Newscast, as selected by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fall 2011)

PUBLICATIONS

  • Joseph Y. Ahmad and Edward B. Goolsby as Regional Editors and Texas Section Editors in EMPLOYMENT AT WILL: A STATE BY STATE SURVEY (Am. Bar Assoc. Section of Labor and Emp’t Law et al. eds., 2d ed. 2017 & Supps. 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022)
  • Edward B. Goolsby, Ethics of Social Media (Presentation at Annual State Bar of Texas Meeting, June 21, 2018)
  • Why So Serious? Taking the Word “Seriously” More Seriously in Plain Error Review of Federal Sentencing Appeals, 51 Hous. L. Rev. 1449 (2014)

IN THE NEWS

Representative Engagements
  • In 2021, as lead counsel, successfully secured the dismissal in favor of Turkey Leg Hut on all claims that had been brought against it. See more here.
  • Successfully helped an energy industry client obtain a critical June 2020 injunction to stop a former employee from improperly using confidential client information to aid a competitor. At the injunction hearing, Mr. Goolsby cross-examined the president of the competing company. See more here.
  • As lead counsel, successfully opposed a national airline’s mandamus before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to stop discovery in a race discrimination case. The case attracted media attention in California.
  • In January 2019, argued before the Delaware Supreme Court on behalf of CITGO Petroleum Corporation in Sunline Commercial Carriers, Inc. v. CITGO Petroleum Corp.
  • In 2018, he successfully defended a family-owned insulation company against a negligence suit. He took three witnesses on direct examination, cross examined a fourth witness, and delivered a closing argument.
  • In 2017, successfully tried a case on behalf of an energy client suing an insurance company that refused to pay for an offshore rig’s hurricane damage. He played an instrumental role in the presentation of the evidence in a six-week trial that ended in a $41.6 million jury verdict that included $27.3 million in punitive damages and $10.9 million for bad faith. The case was one of the top 100 2017 verdicts in the nation according to the National Law Journal. At trial, Mr. Goolsby directed two expert witnesses and gave half of the opening statement.
  • In 2016, successfully defended a family real estate company at trial against fraudulent transfer claims. The plaintiff, the trustee for a bankrupt real estate company, decided to drop his case three weeks into the trial after AZA cross-examined his damages expert. See more here.
EDUCATION
  • University of Houston Law Center, JD. summa cum laude
    • Ranked #5 of 253
    • Order of the Coif
    • Order of the Barons
    • Editor in Chief – Houston Law Review Board 51
    • Writer for ABA Media Alerts Project for Fifth Circuit cases (Spring 2013)
    • Tutor for Prof. Craig Joyce’s Torts class (Fall 2012)
    • Mock Trial Team Member (Fall 2011 – Spring 2013)
    • American Law Institute CLE Scholarship and Leadership Award (Spring 2014)
    • Susman Godfrey L.L.P. Award for Outstanding Paper in the Area of General Litigation (Spring 2013)
    • LEX Certificate Awards – Highest Grade in Legal Research and Writing, Constitutional Law, Property, and Law Practice Strategies (2011 – 2012)
  • Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism, B.S. summa cum laude in Journalism and Political Science
    • Josephine B. and Newton N. Minow Prize in Communications – Outstanding communication skills and an accomplished academic and campus career (Fall 2010)
    • William C. Fyffe Memorial Award – Best broadcast journalism student at Northwestern (Spring 2010)
BAR ADMISSIONS
  • State Bar of Texas
  • U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Courts for the Western District of Texas
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS
  • Rising Star Award – University of Houston Law Center Alumni Association (May 2023)
  • Texas Rising Star honors as presented by Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters Business,  (2021-2023)
  • University of Houston Law Center Dean’s Society, Member
  • University of Houston Law Center 100% Challenge Alumni Donation Campaign, Captain for AZA
  • University of Houston Law Center Law Gala Auction Committee, Member (2019, 2020)
  • Texas Bar Foundation Fellow
  • Board of Directors of the Houston Law Review (April 2014 – October 2017, October 2022-present)
  • Emmy Award – Anchor/News Director for the Best Student Newscast, as selected by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fall 2011)
PUBLICATIONS
  • Joseph Y. Ahmad and Edward B. Goolsby as Regional Editors and Texas Section Editors in EMPLOYMENT AT WILL: A STATE BY STATE SURVEY (Am. Bar Assoc. Section of Labor and Emp’t Law et al. eds., 2d ed. 2017 & Supps. 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022)
  • Edward B. Goolsby, Ethics of Social Media (Presentation at Annual State Bar of Texas Meeting, June 21, 2018)
  • Why So Serious? Taking the Word “Seriously” More Seriously in Plain Error Review of Federal Sentencing Appeals, 51 Hous. L. Rev. 1449 (2014)

1221 McKinney St, Suite 2500, Houston, TX 77010 | (713) 655-1101
© 2024  Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing All rights reserved.

Site by Androvett

1221 McKinney St, Suite 2500
Houston, TX 77010
(713) 655-1101

© 2024 All rights reserved.

Top

Send this to friend