Attorneys Michael Goodove and Elizabeth Ufkes have been selected as 2018 Super Lawyers. Michael Goodove was selected as a Super Lawyer in the field of Plaintiff’s Personal Injury. Elizabeth Ufkes was selected as a Super Lawyer as a Rising Star in the field of Plaintiff’s Personal Injury. Goodove and Ufkes were selected based upon evaluation by other top lawyers and independent research of the candidates. Goodove and Ufkes are listed in the 2018 Super Lawyers Magazine.
Michael Goodove was the Keynote Speaker at the 2015 Mid-Atlantic DUI Conference, which took place on May 27 – 29 in Virginia Beach. The Mid-Atlantic DUI Conference is hosted by the Virginia Beach Police Department and is attended by public safety professionals around the country to hone their skills in DUI prevention, detection, and enforcement. Michael Goodove is the President of the Southside Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and is lawyer who specializes in victim’s rights and is community activist in the prevention of DUI’s as well as the enforcement of DUI laws.
Michael Goodove and his law firm of Swartz, Taliaferro, Swartz & Goodove, P.C. are proud to once again sponsor Southside MADD’s WALK LIKE MADD event. The event will take place on March 2, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Mount Trashmore Park in Virginia Beach. WALK LIKE MADD is your chance to do something about drunk driving in our community. This year, thousands of people in over 60 cities around the nation will participate in 5k events to eliminate drunk driving from our roadways. You can help MADD eliminate drunk driving by signing up for a Walk Like MADD event near you as a walker, team captain, or volunteer. You can even be involved without attending the event by signing up as a virtual walker or making a donation to another walker or team. Please join Michael Goodove and his law firm of Swartz, Taliaferro, Swartz & Goodove, P.C. in this wonderful event. Please click on http://www.walklikemadd.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=557 to sign up.
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 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.
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.
For Immediate Release
For another year in a row, Michael Goodove and Franklin Swartz have been selected as 2011 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. Only 5% of Virginia attorneys are chosen every year and Goodove and Swartz were selected based upon evaluation by other lawyers and independant research of the candidates.
Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA)
NORFOLK – As Shane Williams prepared to leave the party, several people tried to stop him from driving.
Shaun Lawhorn asked for Williams’ keys. Lawhorn’s wife, Kate, the designated driver that evening, offered Williams a ride. Several people tried to give Williams their cards for Safe Ride , a Navy program that pays for cab fare.
They made the efforts because Williams had been drinking at a series of gatherings since 11 a.m., and had consumed beer, mixed drinks, gin and shots of Jagermeister. He refused their offers and left in his white Ford pickup about 11 p.m. on Feb. 24.
Just after midnight, Williams crashed head-on into a car driven by Anthony Dominic Wilson on Interstate 264. Williams was driving the wrong way, headed east in the west bound lanes. Williams told police and paramedics that he’d had two or three drinks.
Wilson, 26, died on the highway. When paramedics told Williams, he started crying.
“Oh God, help me please,” he said.
“Please forgive me. I don’t know what’s going on. Please forgive me, Lord.”
In Norfolk Circuit Court on Thursday, Williams, 30, pleaded guilty to aggravated involuntary manslaughter for Wilson’s death. Wilson’s parents cried quietly in the courtroom.
Prosecutor Ron Batliner wrote the account of Williams’ activities before the wreck based on interviews with people at the parties, witnesses at the roadside, and on investigations by State Police, Norfolk Police, and the Navy Criminal Investigative Service. Williams was in the Navy at the time of the crash.
Several people saw Williams driving the wrong way on I-264 before the crash. One woman called 911. Another swerved out of Williams’ way, only to see the collision in his rear-view mirror. Williams told people who had stopped to help that he had come from the HOV ramp.
The ramp was 200 yards away from the wreck, which happened near Newtown Road. Witnesses and State Police said the gates were down.
Batliner did not present evidence of Williams’ blood-alcohol concentration.
But Michael Goodove, an attorney representing Wilson’s family, said it was more than twice the legal limit considered evidence of intoxication.
Wilson was an only child, and the father of a 5-year-old boy, Goodove said.
nReach Michelle Washington at (757) 446-2287 or michelle. washington@pilotonline.com.
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Shane Williams faces a maximum of 20 years in the traffic death of Anthony Dominic Wilson. Williams’ sentencing is scheduled for January. He remains free on bond until then.
Copyright (c) 2006 The Virginian-Pilot
Record Number: 13616275
Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA)
Author: JON FRANK THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
A 50-year-old man who was driving drunk in November when he killed the father of two children was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison.
Steven V. Arcese has been in custody since the Nov. 3 accident that killed 26-year-old David C. Fisher.
The accident occurred near London Bridge and Dam Neck roads, where Arcese’s Audi station wagon crashed head-on with Fisher’s Chevrolet Cavalier. Fisher’s two children were passengers in the car but were not seriously injured.
In April, Arcese pleaded guilty to second-offense driving under the influence and aggravated involuntary manslaughter. He faced up to 21 years in prison.
In court Tuesday, Arcese told Fisher’s family: “In no way, on that horrible night in November, did I intend to cause that accident. I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry.”
Circuit Judge Thomas S. Shadrick began to cry as he expressed sympathy to Fisher’s family shortly before issuing the sentence.
Shadrick gave Arcese the maximum 21 years but suspended all but 10.
Arcese will be on supervised probation after his release, with another 11 years in prison possible if he misbehaves during that time, Shadrick said.
Shadrick said harsher sentences likely are ahead for repeat offenders who drink and drive and hurt others. But, Shadrick said, until the law changes, he is obligated to stay close to state-mandated guidelines.
The maximum sentence recommended for Arcese by state guidelines was about 9.5 years in prison, Shadrick said.
The judge said he exceeded the guidelines a little to “make a statement, because the guidelines are a little low.”
Jim Fisher, the victim’s father, who has become an advocate for stiffer drunken-driving sentences, said he was satisfied with the time Arcese will serve in prison.
“This is a start,” Fisher said. “It is higher than the guidelines and that is all we were hoping for.”
Fisher said he hopes the decision to keep Arcese locked up without bond until sentencing will set the standard for others charged with second-offense DUI and higher.
The public outcry against drunken drivers has intensified in recent months after a rash of fatal DUI accidents.
In Norfolk recently, police say a repeat DUI offender killed a Lake Taylor High School student after a magistrate allowed him out of jail on a $1,000 bond on a previous DUI charge.
After the sentencing, Moody E. “Sonny” Stallings, one of two attorneys who represented Arcese, said he was “prepared for a little worse” because attitudes against drunken drivers are changing rapidly.
Much of the change stems from public reaction to the Arcese case and other recent fatal DUI crashes.
“The community is talking about this case,” Stallings said, especially at the Oceanfront, where Arcese is a well-known resident.
People are starting to realize when they are out drinking, they should “get a cab, call a friend or walk, because this kind of tragedy will be repeated again,” Stallings said.
Michael L. Goodove, a Norfolk lawyer and president of the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said he would have preferred a longer sentence for Arcese.
“I think more time would have sent a stronger message to the community,” Goodove said. “and kept an habitual offender off the roads.”
Reach Jon Frank at 222-5122 or jon.frank(AT)pilotonline.com
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Steven V. Arcese, 50, faced 21 years, but the judge suspended all
but 10.
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David C. Fisher, 26, was killed in a drunken-driving accident Nov.
3. in Virginia Beach.
Copyright (c) 2003 The Virginian-Pilot
Record Number: 0307020146
