Edward Goolsby - AZA Law

Edward Goolsby

Partner

Edward “Ward” Goolsby is an Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter turned trial lawyer. The vital skills he learned in the newsroom have translated to successes in the courtroom, including a $40+ million jury verdict. He understands that clients want a lawyer who can get to the bottom of the issues, tell a persuasive and engaging story grounded in facts and thorough research, and command credibility in front of judges and juries. Ward does all of this and more.

He focuses on complex commercial litigation, trade secret litigation, oil and gas-related litigation, and employment litigation. Ward 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 and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch lists for his excellence in business litigation.

Before becoming a lawyer, he worked in television news, both as a reporter in Lansing, Michigan, and as a news producer in Houston.

Representative Engagements

In 2025, as lead counsel, he represented SpaceX in a dispute against Cards Against Humanity, filed in Cameron County, Texas. Mr. Goolsby successfully argued a plea to the jurisdiction and got Cards Against Humanity’s claims dismissed.
In 2025, as lead counsel, he tried a confidential arbitration related to a construction project and cross examined the president of the opposing party and direct examined three key fact witnesses, including the client’s project manager.
In 2024, he tried a confidential arbitration in San Franscisco, California, and cross examined the former president of the opposing party and direct examined two key fact witnesses.
In 2023, he litigated a partnership dispute relating to memory care facilities up until trial. After obtaining favorable rulings at the pretrial conference, he helped his client obtain a favorable settlement.
In 2023, he tried a confidential arbitration related to oil and gas issues in Houston, Texas, and did direct examinations of a key fact witness and expert witness.
In 2021, as lead counsel, he successfully secured the dismissal in favor of Turkey Leg Hut on all claims that had been brought against it. See more here.
In a June 2020 injunction hearing, he successfully helped an energy industry client obtain an 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, he 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, he 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, he 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, he 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
- Editor in Chief – Houston Law Review Board 51

Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism, B.S. summa cum laude in Journalism and Political Science

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

Greater Houston Partnership – Houston Energy Leadership Cohort (Fall 2025)
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)
Texas Super Lawyers, A Thomson Reuters Business, (2026)
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
Houston Bar Foundation Fellow
Board of Directors of the Houston Law Review (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

Top 10 Mistakes Made During a First Trial, CLE Presentation for the Houston Bar Association Litigation Section (presenting with AZA colleague Michael Killingsworth) (Apr. 30, 2025)
Show Down at the Show Cause Corral, CLE Panel Presentation for the Federal Bar Association (participating on a panel with U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Eskridge III of the Southern District of Texas) (Feb. 16, 2023)
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)