Michael Goodove, a partner at Swartz, Taliaferro, Swartz & Goodove, in Norfolk, VA, has been inducted as a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation. Fellows are persons of integrity and character who have maintained and upheld the highest standards in their profession and community. The Fellows are comprised of outstanding lawyers, law professors, and retired members of the judiciary who are nominated by the Fellows Committee and elected by the Virginia Law Foundation Board. Mr. Goodove specializes in personal injury law.
Michael L. Goodove, a partner with the Norfolk law firm of Swartz, Taliaferro, Swartz & Goodove, P.C. was selected by The National Trial Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers and has been admitted as a Member to the Medical Malpractice Trial Lawyers. The National Trial Lawyers is a professional organization composed of the premier trial lawyers from across the country who exemplify superior qualifications as civil plaintiff or criminal defense trial lawyers. Mr. Goodove specializes in the areas of personal injury and criminal law.
Attorney Elizabeth Kalocay Ufkes was selected by The National Trial Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers. The National Trial Lawyers is a professional organization composed of the premier trial lawyers from across the country who exemplify superior qualifications as civil plaintiff or criminal defense trial lawyers. Ms. Ufkes specializes in the areas of personal injury and criminal law.
Michael L. Goodove, a personal injury attorney, with the law firm of Swartz, Taliaferro, Swartz & Goodove, was selected as a member of the 2014 class of the Leaders in the Law. Virginia Lawyers Weekly chose only 30 attorneys in Virginia for this high honor. Goodove was recognized as setting the standard for other lawyers and as a highly accomplished attorney. “Goodove has built a career as a champion of victims of drunk driving, through his trial practice and his longtime leadership in Mothers Against Drunk Driving; as a plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer, he finds creative and meaningful remedies for his clients.” Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Michael Goodove, a partner at Swartz, Taliaferro, Swartz & Goodove, in Norfolk, VA, has been selected as “Virginia’s Legal Elite” for 2014 in the category of Civil Litigation. Virginia’s Legal Elite is an extremely high honor and Mr. Goodove was selected by his peers and members of the Virginia Bar Association for his excellent legal skills and reputation. He will be listed in the December 2014 issue of Virginia Business Magazine. Mr. Goodove specializes in personal injury law.
Elizabeth Ufkes, an attorney at Swartz, Taliaferro, Swartz & Goodove, in Norfolk, VA, has been selected as “Virginia’s Legal Elite” for 2014 in the category of Lawyer’s Under 40. Virginia’s Legal Elite is an extremely high honor and Ms. Ufkes was selected by her peers for her excellent legal skills and reputation. She will be listed in the December 2014 issue of Virginia Business Magazine. Ms. Ufkes specializes in the areas of personal injury and criminal law.
For another year, Michael Goodove and Franklin Swartz have been selected as 2014 Super Lawyers. Michael Goodove was selected as a Super Lawyer in the field of Plaintiff’s Personal Injury. Franklin Swartz was selected as a Super Lawyer in the field of White Collar Criminal Defense. Franklin Swartz also received the distinction of Virginia: The Top 100 Superlawyers 2014. Only 5% of Virginia attorneys are chosen every year and Goodove and Swartz were selected based upon evaluation by other top lawyers and independant research of the candidates. Goodove and Swartz will be contained in the 2014 Super Lawyers Magazine as well as in the 2014 November/December issue of Hampton Roads magazine.
They’re just a sample of the dozens of complaints filed with the city each year seeking repayment for damages.
Some are sobering, others slightly silly.
Either way, they add up, with 205 auto and general liability claims resulting in roughly $1.2 million in settlements during the last fiscal year, according to the city’s most recent Annual Risk Management Financial Report.
A year’s worth of petitions obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request shows fender-benders and everyday mishaps as well as more serious incidents that sometimes result in lawsuits.
“It’s a wild gamut,” City Attorney Mark Stiles said. “A lot of them were interesting to read.”
When an incident occurs involving a private resident and a city entity, such as the police or a construction crew, the person must file a “notice of claim” within six months to seek reimbursement. Risk Management investigates and decides whether to cut a check.
If the person disagrees with the department’s decision, he or she can appeal or file a lawsuit.
Many of the incidents occur on the road. Some stem from run-ins with the law, such as one in which a man said police sullied his carpet while using black fingerprint-dusting powder during a robbery investigation. In another case, two people said their cellphones were broken while they were being arrested.
Over six months ending on Feb. 28, the city paid out $45,623. That included $95 to a homeowner whose sprinkler system was damaged by a city fire truck, more than $10,000 for a sewage backup into a woman’s home, and nearly $500 to a driver whose tire rim was damaged by a pothole on Davis Street.
But sometimes the city says no way.
One man wanted payment for a car wash – and for the mileage to get there – after he said construction workers at the Oceanfront left dusty hand prints on his vehicle. Another woman wanted her car repaired after she drove over an orange traffic barrel.
The city declined both claims, Risk Management Administrator John Grook said.
Michael Goodove, a personal injury attorney who has represented clients in petitions against the city, said Virginia Beach typically responds quickly and fairly.
“I think the city always tries to do right by its citizens,” city attorney Stiles said. “I think we also have an obligation to the taxpayer not to pay claims for which there is no legal responsibility, and I think Risk Management does a good job of finding the appropriate balance of those two.”
In a personal injury case stemming from a motor vehicle collision, a recent mediation with a retired Judge resulted in a top offer of $10,000 from State Farm Insurance Company. The case was tried in Virginia Beach Circuit Court for 2 days resulting in a jury verdict in the amount of $150,000. State Farm made a final offer of $20,000 during the first day of trial, but it was rejected and the case was tried to verdict. In addition to paying the full amount of the verdict, Michael Goodove also held State Farm responsible for court costs. State Farm hired a local orthopedic surgeon to testify that our client’s injuries were not accident-related. Goodove established through cross-examination that State Farm’s expert had received excessive compensation and uncovered the expert’s relationship with State Farm and other insurance companies. The trial team consisted of Michael Goodove and Elizabeth Ufkes.
For more than two months, police and bail bondsmen have searched for 23-year-old Cameron Paul Crockett, who didn’t show up for sentencing after a jury convicted him of manslaughter in the drunken-driving death of a friend.
Fugitive Paul Crockett
Now, federal authorities say they’ve joined the hunt.
The U.S. Marshals Service, which works to find fugitives believed to have crossed state lines or fled the country, is investigating Crockett’s case, spokeswoman Carolyn Gwathmey said Wednesday in an email. The marshals’ Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and its International Investigations Branch are involved, she said.
Mike Rowland of Lucky Seven Bail Bonds, who posted Crockett’s $20,000 bail, on Wednesday in Circuit Court received another 150 days per state law to find the fugitive before possibly forfeiting the money.
“We’re steadily working on it,” Rowland said. He declined to comment on where he believed Crockett might be.
Meanwhile, Crockett’s friends and family have launched a campaign professing his innocence on YouTube and Facebook. A Facebook profile that appears to belong to Crockett has changed several times since his disappearance, including the profile photo changing once before being deleted.
Crockett has maintained he was not driving the night of Dec. 28, 2008, when 20-year-old John “Jack” Korte Jr. died in a crash on Wolfsnare Road.
In October, Crockett’s insurance company settled a wrongful-death suit with Korte’s family for $150,000. They initially had sought $10 million.
“I can assure you that the family was never motivated at all by any of the monetary aspects of it,” said Michael Goodove, the Kortes’ attorney. “This allowed them to force somebody to accept accountability and to give them some closure, which has been long overdue.”
Then, on March 1, a jury found Crockett guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Korte’s death. Although he did not show up for sentencing four days later, the jury recommended he serve five years in prison, half the maximum.
The conviction was Crockett’s third on charges connected to Korte’s death.
A judge threw out an earlier manslaughter conviction when the jury couldn’t agree on a sentencing recommendation.
Crockett still is awaiting trial on additional charges in the case, including drunken driving and intimidating a witness.
Now he’s also charged with misdemeanor and felony failures to appear. The misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail; the felony, five years in prison.
If Crockett fled the state, he also could face federal prosecution.
Prosecutors unsuccessfully tried several times to convince a judge to revoke Crockett’s bond, arguing he had violated his release conditions, said Macie Pridgen, a spokeswoman for the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Although Crockett had to surrender his passport, he still could have hopped a flight to another state or country, said Steve Sterling, director of airport operations at Norfolk International Airport. He said airlines are required to check only that a passenger is not on the Transportation Security Administration’s no-fly list.
“I’m certain that people who have warrants against them fly all over the country all the time,” Sterling said. “There’s not a system in place to check a wanted status on someone when they fly.”
Crockett’s attorney, Andrew Sacks, said Crockett has not contacted him since he didn’t show up for court.
“We’re extremely disappointed that Mr. Crockett has still not presented himself,” Sacks said. “We strongly urge him to do the responsible thing, so that his case can be appropriately concluded.”
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