Goldman aggressively cross-examined Chaplin, drawing frequent objections from Chaplin's attorneys[1][2] Making the point that even copyrights and patents only confer temporary legal protection, not protection in perpetuity, Goldman argued: "Even the inventions of the nation's geniuses are given protection with the understanding that at the expiration of a limited number of years their discoveries will become public property to be used for the benefit of all.
"[3] After the decision largely favoring Chaplin, Goldman vowed that his client would give up the name "Charlie Aplin," but would otherwise continue producing films as before, without changing his look.
[4] He also represented controversial evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, one of the most famous celebrities in the United States in the 1920s.
[5][6] In 1932 he won a judgment of $2,137,500 for a New York real estate broker against the Rio Grande Oil Company for stock manipulation, which was then one of the largest legal judgments ever recorded in the United States.
[7][8] In other matters that were covered by the press, in 1931 he sued actress Florence Eldridge, the wife of actor Fredric March, in a personal injury case arising from an auto accident;[9] and in 1934 he won a $15,000 judgment for alienation of affections in a case against wealthy aviation magnate and Olympics yachtsman Frederick Conant.