The son of a furrier and a postal worker, he graduated from Columbia University Law School and returned there at the end of his career as a professor. He became both GC to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and, later, one of its commissioners. He also helped draft the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to tighten controls on public companies in the wake of the Enron fraud and the revelation of its close relationship with auditors Arthur Andersen. 

Dark and ugly cloud

He was immersed, in 2002, in an outbreak of open fighting with another Commissioner, the Commission's chair Harvey Pitt, over the leadership of a new body, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Mr Goldschmid was concerned that Mr Pitt's candidate to run the Board was too close to the accounting firms and would see the Board 'start under such a dark and ugly cloud'. Within a month, Mr Goldschmid was effectively vindicated as both the Board's head and Mr Pitt stood down from their posts.

Brilliant lawyer

Weil Gotshal published a notice in The New York Times in which it said: 'Harvey was a brilliant lawyer and educator, and he will be greatly missed by his friends and former colleagues at Weil. We will remember him with the utmost respect and affection, and we extend our deepest sympathies to his family.' He was 74 and died of complications linked to pneumonia. Sources: Washington Post; New York Times