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 has been named to the Texas Rising Stars lists since 2021 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 has been named to the Texas Rising Stars lists since 2021 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
- University of Houston Law Alumni Board of Directors (May 2024-present)
- 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, (2021-2024)
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (2025)
- 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
- Ben & Jerry’s Sues Corporate Parent Over Gaza Stance Censorship
- More than half of AZA’s attorneys honored as Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch
- Thirteen AZA Attorneys Earn Texas Rising Stars Honor
- AZA Names Five New Partners for 2023
- Ten AZA Lawyers on Texas Rising Stars List for 2022
- Case Against AZA Client Turkey Leg Hut Dismissed
- Eleven AZA Lawyers Make the 2021 Texas Rising Stars List
- Three More AZA Lawyers Elected Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation
- Judge Stops Specialty RTP Employee from Stealing Permian Basin Customers of FlexSteel Pipeline Technologies
- AZA Scores One of the Nation’s Top 100 Verdicts of 2017
- AZA Wins $1.9 Million Contract Case for CITGO in Delaware Court
- AZA Wins Texas Supreme Court Patent Agent Privilege Case That Could Have National Import
- AZA Patent Agent Privilege Appeal Named ‘Texas Case to Watch’ by Law360
- Prime Natural Resources Wins $41.6 Million in Wellsure Insurance Dispute
- Bankruptcy Trustee Dismisses Case After Expert Fails On Cross Examination
- AZA Welcomes 5 New Hires
- 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.
- 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)
- 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
- University of Houston Law Alumni Board of Directors (May 2024-present)
- 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, (2021-2024)
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (2025)
- 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)
- 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)
- Ben & Jerry’s Sues Corporate Parent Over Gaza Stance Censorship
- More than half of AZA’s attorneys honored as Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch
- Thirteen AZA Attorneys Earn Texas Rising Stars Honor
- AZA Names Five New Partners for 2023
- Ten AZA Lawyers on Texas Rising Stars List for 2022
- Case Against AZA Client Turkey Leg Hut Dismissed
- Eleven AZA Lawyers Make the 2021 Texas Rising Stars List
- Three More AZA Lawyers Elected Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation
- Judge Stops Specialty RTP Employee from Stealing Permian Basin Customers of FlexSteel Pipeline Technologies
- AZA Scores One of the Nation’s Top 100 Verdicts of 2017
- AZA Wins $1.9 Million Contract Case for CITGO in Delaware Court
- AZA Wins Texas Supreme Court Patent Agent Privilege Case That Could Have National Import
- AZA Patent Agent Privilege Appeal Named ‘Texas Case to Watch’ by Law360
- Prime Natural Resources Wins $41.6 Million in Wellsure Insurance Dispute
- Bankruptcy Trustee Dismisses Case After Expert Fails On Cross Examination
- AZA Welcomes 5 New Hires
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