page_title: Fred Levin
section_title: Legal Career Highlights
hierarchical_section_title: Fred Levin / Legal Career Highlights
caption_attribution_description: English: Fred Levin and some of his partners in late 1960s
context_page_description: Fredric Gerson Levin is an American plaintiffs' lawyer in the state of Florida, who serves as chairman of Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor, P.A, a law firm in Northwest Florida. The Fredric G. Levin College of Law at the University of Florida is named for him because of a monetary donation he made to the school in 1999.
  Fred is best known for rewriting Florida's Medicaid Third-Party Recovery Act to allow the State of Florida to sue and recover billions of dollars from the tobacco industry for smoking related illnesses. His flamboyant and brazen personality has resulted in him being prosecuted by The Florida Bar two times, and investigated two additional times.
  The life of Fred Levin was summarized in the weekly medical journal The Lancet. In its December 2014 edition, the author wrote: "And Give Up Showbiz? explores the extraordinary life of a pioneering and often controversial lawyer. Seen as an inspiring innovator by some, and a flamboyant self-promoter by others, Levin's work was not always met with a favourable outcome. Levin was accused of two murders, and has often met with controversy because of his relentless fight for justice against big companies.
context_section_description: In 1961, Fred began practicing in the law firm of Levin & Askew (now known as Levin Papantonio) in Pensacola.   The firm was founded by his brother David and Reubin Askew, who eventually would go on to become a two-term governor of Florida and candidate for President of the United States.
  Fred began his legal career in family law, but once a client explained that her husband said he would kill her divorce lawyer, he chose to switch to general civil law.   His first case involved an insurance dispute over a residential fire claim.  The case ended up before a jury. Fred won the case and decided he wanted to become a trial lawyer.
  In the late 1960s, Fred handled a case involving the wrongful death of a child who had taken the antibiotic Chloromycetin.  Fred won the case.  While the compensatory damages were not large, the judge allowed Fred to pursue a punitive damage claim which ended up playing a role in the drug being pulled from the market in the United States for most uses.
  Fred received national attention with the case of Thorshov v. L&N.  On November 9, 1977, Dr. Jon Thorshov, a thirty-eight-year-old physician, his wife, his four-year-old daughter, and his one-year-old son were at their home in Pensacola when a freight train operated by L&N derailed near their home and released anhydrous ammonia.  The family attempted to escape their home, but were overcome by the fumes.  Dr. and Ms. Thorshov died, and both children sustained serious physical injuries.  In 1980, Fred received a jury verdict for the family in the amount of $18 million.    As a result of the verdict, US magazine did a story on Fred in its swimsuit preview issue. On the cover were Randi Oakes from CHiPs, Morgan Fairchild from Flamingo Road, and Donna Mills from Knots Landing. Inside was a half-page picture of Fred Levin standing in front of an L&N railcar under the headline, "I'll Sue."
  To date, Fred has received more than thirty jury verdicts in excess of $1,000,000 (six in excess of $10,000,000). At various points in his career he has held the national record for jury verdicts involving the wrongful death of a child, the wrongful death of a housewife, the wrongful death of a wage earner, and the largest personal injury verdict in the state of Florida.  He has been listed in every edition of Best Lawyers in America; is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates; and was inducted into The National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame in 2009.
caption: Fred Levin and a few partners in the late 1960s. David Levin (top, middle), Reubin Askew (top right), and Fred Levin (bottom left).
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