Results
Al Goodman’s positive and impressive track record of verdicts and settlements are the proof that he fights and works hard to obtain justice for innocent victims and their families.
Drunk driver not taken off road by police kills two and injures two others in head-on crash
$873,000 Jury Verdict – Northampton Superior Court
As a brand new lawyer in 1978, Attorney Goodman took on city hall and eventually won after battling for eight long years. He represented Debbie Irwin and sued the Town of Ware for negligent police protection after its police stopped a drunk driver and let him go. The drunk driver then hit Debbie’s car head on and killed her 19 year old husband and infant daughter, Misty and severely injured herself and her son Stephen. The trial ended in a landmark $873,000 jury verdict and the case on appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court made new law (Irwin v. Town of Ware, 392 Mass. 745, 1984) that has been followed throughout the country and hailed by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) as a lynchpin in their goal to cut down on drunk driving deaths. Since then, police say they no longer have to be the nice guy and let a person they know or another officer go when they are driving drunk. The trial judge, Judge Raymond R. Cross, wrote in his memoirs that it was one of the most important civil cases of the latter half of the twentieth century. Attorney Goodman appeared on CBS 60 Minutes, ABC 20-20, Good Morning America, NBC Evening News; the case was written up in a full page story in the NY Times Sunday edition (Drunken Driving Case Divides Town, NY TIMES March 13, 1983 Sec. 1 p. 26) as well as the Providence Journal. The case was optioned twice for a Hollywood Movie which still may come. It is the subject of many scholarly law reviews throughout the academic legal world.
$873,000 Jury Verdict – Northampton Superior Court
As a brand new lawyer in 1978, Attorney Goodman took on city hall and eventually won after battling for eight long years. He represented Debbie Irwin and sued the Town of Ware for negligent police protection after its police stopped a drunk driver and let him go. The drunk driver then hit Debbie’s car head on and killed her 19 year old husband and infant daughter, Misty and severely injured herself and her son Stephen. The trial ended in a landmark $873,000 jury verdict and the case on appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court made new law (Irwin v. Town of Ware, 392 Mass. 745, 1984) that has been followed throughout the country and hailed by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) as a lynchpin in their goal to cut down on drunk driving deaths. Since then, police say they no longer have to be the nice guy and let a person they know or another officer go when they are driving drunk. The trial judge, Judge Raymond R. Cross, wrote in his memoirs that it was one of the most important civil cases of the latter half of the twentieth century. Attorney Goodman appeared on CBS 60 Minutes, ABC 20-20, Good Morning America, NBC Evening News; the case was written up in a full page story in the NY Times Sunday edition (Drunken Driving Case Divides Town, NY TIMES March 13, 1983 Sec. 1 p. 26) as well as the Providence Journal. The case was optioned twice for a Hollywood Movie which still may come. It is the subject of many scholarly law reviews throughout the academic legal world.
Pedestrian Injuries
$1,200,000
A young man walking across a street late at night in a western Massachusetts town was hit by a car that left the scene. Other motorists identified the plate on the car which police traced to a car dealership. The driver was a salesperson who at first denied responsibility for leaving the scene after hitting and causing personal injuries to the pedestrian. The driver was apparently drunk and did not want to remain there for police to arrest him. He also had a prior criminal record.
The insurance carrier wanted no part of this mess and paid a seven figure settlement to cover the man’s permanent mild traumatic brain injury damages.
$1,200,000
A young man walking across a street late at night in a western Massachusetts town was hit by a car that left the scene. Other motorists identified the plate on the car which police traced to a car dealership. The driver was a salesperson who at first denied responsibility for leaving the scene after hitting and causing personal injuries to the pedestrian. The driver was apparently drunk and did not want to remain there for police to arrest him. He also had a prior criminal record.
The insurance carrier wanted no part of this mess and paid a seven figure settlement to cover the man’s permanent mild traumatic brain injury damages.
Rear-end crash caused by a drunk school bus driver results in permanent injuries to a young worker
$500,000 Jury Verdict – Northampton Superior Court
A young woman who worked for a liquid lawn fertilizer company was on the job working driving the company vehicle and stopped at a red light when a school bus crashed into her vehicle. It turned out that the bus operator, at 1:30 p.m., was on his way to an elementary school to pick up children and was drunk.
The woman received treatment for a back injury which turned out to be a herniated disk. Her doctor operated and removed the disk but she still has pain from the scar tissue. A second operation was recommended but she refused to go through the terrible pain and uncertain recovery again. The jury returned a verdict of $ 500,000 in her favor.
$500,000 Jury Verdict – Northampton Superior Court
A young woman who worked for a liquid lawn fertilizer company was on the job working driving the company vehicle and stopped at a red light when a school bus crashed into her vehicle. It turned out that the bus operator, at 1:30 p.m., was on his way to an elementary school to pick up children and was drunk.
The woman received treatment for a back injury which turned out to be a herniated disk. Her doctor operated and removed the disk but she still has pain from the scar tissue. A second operation was recommended but she refused to go through the terrible pain and uncertain recovery again. The jury returned a verdict of $ 500,000 in her favor.
Boston Restaurant Overserved Alcohol to a Patron
$500,000
A young man who had just turned 21 went to a restaurant and ordered many servings of alcohol with his meal. He left and within minutes after leaving lost control of his car at a high rate of speed and slammed into a telephone pole, killing himself upon impact. The parents in Boston retained Attorney Goodman to sue the bar under the dram shop laws of Massachusetts for overservice of alcohol to a patron who they knew or should have known was too intoxicated to safely operate his motor vehicle. After lengthy discovery, the case was settled for the policy limits at the start of trial.
$500,000
A young man who had just turned 21 went to a restaurant and ordered many servings of alcohol with his meal. He left and within minutes after leaving lost control of his car at a high rate of speed and slammed into a telephone pole, killing himself upon impact. The parents in Boston retained Attorney Goodman to sue the bar under the dram shop laws of Massachusetts for overservice of alcohol to a patron who they knew or should have known was too intoxicated to safely operate his motor vehicle. After lengthy discovery, the case was settled for the policy limits at the start of trial.
Overservice of alcohol to a minor with a fake ID
$350,000
A young sorority sister with her friends went to a bar in a college town. She used an obviously fake ID to get through the front when the checker hardly took a glance at the ID. While at the bar, she had way too much to drink. She left with her friends near closing time. Not far from the bar, on the way back to their sorority house, the operator lost control and hit a pole. A passenger was thrown from the car and sustained a severe head injury with resulting traumatic brain injury that left her with permanent cognitive deficits. Attorney Goodman commenced suit against the bar and deposed all of the employees on duty that night, the door checker and bouncers, bartenders, waitresses, management and the other girls who had been with her including the drunk driver. At the start of trial, the case was settled on behalf of the injured passenger.
$350,000
A young sorority sister with her friends went to a bar in a college town. She used an obviously fake ID to get through the front when the checker hardly took a glance at the ID. While at the bar, she had way too much to drink. She left with her friends near closing time. Not far from the bar, on the way back to their sorority house, the operator lost control and hit a pole. A passenger was thrown from the car and sustained a severe head injury with resulting traumatic brain injury that left her with permanent cognitive deficits. Attorney Goodman commenced suit against the bar and deposed all of the employees on duty that night, the door checker and bouncers, bartenders, waitresses, management and the other girls who had been with her including the drunk driver. At the start of trial, the case was settled on behalf of the injured passenger.