Daily News

Attorney Michael Gove Adds Ludlow Office

LUDLOW — Attorney Michael Gove, of Gove Law Office LLC in Northampton, recently announced that he has purchased a law practice in Ludlow and will open a second office in that community, his hometown. Gove’s 10-year-old practice concentrates on business and corporate law, real-estate transactions, and estate planning.

On Sept. 2, Gove assumed ownership of Thompson & Bell of Ludlow, the business formerly operated by the late James “Jason” Thompson and his associate, Gregory Bell. Bell and Gove will work together to cover the Ludlow and Northampton offices; in addition, the Ludlow office will also handle bankruptcy and personal-injury law.

Gove grew up in Ludlow and has been friends with Thompson’s son Sean since middle school. After the elder Thompson unexpectedly passed away in April, Gove was invited by the Thompson family to take over the practice.

Gove said he met Jason Thompson when Gove was a student at Ludlow High School in the late 1990s. Thompson was the town moderator at the time, and Gove was an elected representative to Ludlow Town Meeting. Gove later served as chair of the Ludlow Democratic Committee, represented Ludlow at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and chaired the Ludlow Cultural Council. “Jason Thompson was somebody I looked up to as a leader in our community,” he said. “I am honored to be taking over his practice.”

Gove earned his law degree from Boston College School of Law in 2004, after graduating cum laude from UMass Amherst in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Assoc., the Hampden County Bar Assoc., the Hampshire County Bar Assoc., the Connecticut Bar Assoc., the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, and the Northampton Assoc. of Young Professionals.

Gove has also served on many area nonprofit boards and presently serves as a corporator of the Horace Smith Fund, which grants scholarships for Hampden County residents pursuing a college or graduate education. He also volunteers for Cooley Dickinson Hospital and serves on the board of Best Buddies of Western Massachusetts. In 2012 and 2013, Gove was selected as a Massachusetts Rising Star by Super Lawyers, a designation earned by no more than 2.5% of lawyers in Massachusetts.

Bell is a 1983 graduate of Western New England College School of Law. He concentrates in residential and commercial real estate, consumer bankruptcy, probate administration, and personal-injury law.

For more information, visit www.govelawoffice.com or call Gove at (413) 570-3170 or Bell at (413) 583-5196.