Hunton Andrews Kurth Lawyers Goolsby & Haas Co-Author Updated Virginia Corporate Law Treatise

January 9, 2023

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is pleased to announce the publication of Goolsby & Haas on Virginia Corporations, Seventh Edition. Authored by special counsel Allen C. Goolsby and partner Steven M. Haas, the book is the definitive guide to Virginia corporate law.

Published by LexisNexis, the latest edition includes in-depth updates on legislative and judicial developments over the last five years. In particular, Goolsby and Haas served as the principal drafters of the comprehensive 2019 revision of the Virginia Stock Corporation Act, and the new edition of the book covers those important changes.

The updated Goolsby & Haas on Virginia Corporations extensively discusses:

  • Substantial revisions to the Virginia Stock Corporation Act in 2019, many of which were based on the Revised Model Business Corporation Act published in 2016.
  • Developments in the changing relationship between boards of directors and shareholders, especially institutional shareholders of publicly held corporations.
  • The ongoing debate as to (i) what constitutes a proper corporate purpose, (ii) the proper balance between shareholder return and the interests of the corporation’s employees and other constituents, and (iii) the proper level of the corporation’s commitment to a wide range of social and environmental issues.
  • The increased attention to the board of directors’ oversight role, including the assessment and control of risks in a rapidly changing and global environment.

As principal drafter of Virginia’s current corporate code, Goolsby oversaw the General Assembly’s overhaul of the Virginia Stock Corporation Act in the mid-1980s and led the development of statutory updates in the following decades. He authored his original treatise, Goolsby on Virginia Corporations, in 2002. The most recent edition is the third version that Haas has co-authored.

Haas is co-head of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s mergers and acquisitions team and is widely recognized for his corporate governance and M&A practices. He is the chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Corporate Laws, which publishes the Model Business Corporation Act. Goolsby also served on that committee for a number of years. Both are fellows of the American College of Governance Counsel, and Haas is a member of the College’s Board of Trustees.