[ MARSHALL GOODSILL / 1916-2004 ]
Attorney won local,
national respect
Marshall Goodsill, a partner in one of the state's top law firms and pioneer in Hawaii securities law, died Saturday at his Kahala home after a five-month battle with cancer. He was 87.
"I think he had an incredible honesty and a directness of character," said David Reber, an attorney who has been at Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel since 1975. "He was well respected by the top business people in town, people who he represented."
Born in Illinois, Goodsill earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and went on to attend Harvard University's law school. After graduating in 1940, he worked with the Wall Street law firm Cravath Swaine & Moore.
He came to Hawaii a year later, but just six months after joining the firm he would later help lead, Goodsill was called up for active duty. Over the course of World War II, he served as a Navy Reserves intelligence officer in Germany and Japan and earned several service medals, including a Bronze Star.
Goodsill stayed on in Germany after the war to work with the Allied governments and draft documents that would form the democratic foundations of the nation.
He tackled "economic, political, legal and other problems with vigor enough to satisfy any congressman," read a 1945 Star-Bulletin report on Goodsill's postwar work overseas. "(He) helps run all countries which the Allies have occupied in Europe and helps write their constitutions."
In 1946, Goodsill returned to Honolulu and the firm for which he would practice law during the next 40 years. Friends and colleagues say he quickly established himself as one of the state's top attorneys and became a nationally recognized expert in corporate securities, public utilities and tax practice.
"He's really the person who brought securities law to Hawaii," said John Rutledge, Goodsill's longtime friend and chairman of Rutledge Capital. "He was always someone you could count on. ... He had a great ability to grasp a lot of different aspects of a problem and put them together."
Among Goodsill's clientele were Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., Castle & Cooke, Bank of Hawaii, Dillingham Corp., Hawaiian Telephone Co. and Dole Food Co.
In 1979, Goodsill was named one of the state's top attorneys in a list compiled by the Star-Bulletin. "Lawyers in corporate and public utilities law generally acknowledge Goodsill to be the master," the article read. "One attorney says, 'He brings the insane ramblings of statutory law into a working and meaningful perspective.'"
He was also listed in "Who's Who in American Law" and "Best Lawyers in America."
In May, Gov. Linda Lingle gave Goodsill a special commendation letter for "exceptional service to our community."
After retiring from his firm in 1986, Goodsill served as an estate trustee until this year. He also worked to support those wishing to pursue careers in business, trust and tax law, and set up scholarships at Harvard law school and the University of Hawaii's William S. Richardson School of Law.
"He was a great character beacon for the young people," Rutledge said. "I wish we could somehow bottle the essence of his character and sprinkle it on all of the schoolchildren."
Goodsill is survived by wife Ruth, sons Curt and John, daughters Kay and Jane, and granddaughter Annie. Services are pending. In lieu of flowers, Goodsill's family has requested donations be made to the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the UH law school.