[1] He matriculated at St Patrick's Marist Brothers College in Port Elizabeth and went on to the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he completed a BA in 1984 and an LLB in 1988.
[1] The head of the firm, Vanessa Brereton, later confessed to having spied on anti-apartheid activists, including Goosen, on behalf of the South African Police.
[1] During that time, he took a brief hiatus from practice between 1996 and 1997 while he served as national director of the investigations unit of the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
[1] He had originally interviewed, unsuccessfully, for the more junior post of national legal officer for the TRC, which was ultimately filled by Hanif Vally.
[1][2] He was awarded silk status in 2004,[2] and he served as an acting judge on several occasions between 2005 and 2011, sitting in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa.
[6] In October 2011, the Judicial Service Commission interviewed Goosen for a new vacancy in the Eastern Cape High Court, and on that occasion it recommended him for appointment.
[14] In October 2022, Goosen was one of 11 candidates interviewed by the Judicial Service Commission for possible appointment to one of five permanent vacancies at the Supreme Court of Appeal.