Atlanta lawyer, 93, dies

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An Atlanta lawyer credited with fighting for corporate governance practices died Thursday at Piedmont Hospital. Elliott Goldstein was 93.

Goldstein served as a partner in the Bryan Cave Powell Goldstein firm, which he first joined in 1939.

Goldstein, an Atlanta native, founded the firm's Washington office in 1977. While in Washington, Goldstein served as Special Counsel of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct with the 95th Congress.

Goldstein served as chairman of the Committee on Corporate Laws of the American Bar Association when it adopted the "Revised Model Business Corporation Act" in 1986. The act served as a model code adopted by many states to regulate corporate governance.

“Elliott Goldstein was a great friend and mentor to me," said Charles Elson, an Atlanta native and the Edgar S. Woolard, Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. "He was a brilliant lawyer and moreover a true gentleman in the classic sense of the word.  He was one of the great forces and leading authorities in American corporate law for years, where his work leaves an enduring influence.”

Goldstein graduated from the University of Georgia and Yale Law School.

Following his graduation, he joined the Georgia National Guard and went on to serve in World War II. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

He also served on the board of directors at Atlanta's High Museum of Art and the Atlanta Historical Society.

A funeral is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday at The Temple, 1589 Peachtree St., Atlanta.