Fred Levin

Fredric Gerson Levin (March 29, 1937 – January 12, 2021) was an American plaintiffs' lawyer who served as chairman of Levin, Papantonio, Rafferty, Proctor, Buchanan, O'Brien, Barr, Mougey, 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.

He was 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 resulted in him being prosecuted by the Florida Bar two times, and investigated two additional times.

Levin's life 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 often met with controversy because of his relentless fight for justice against big companies. His home life, while loving, was often neglected in his pursuit of business, and this is mentioned several times in the book—bringing a sense of balance to the stories."

Personal life

Levin was born in 1937, in Pensacola, Florida. He grew up in a conservative Jewish household, with his mother (Rose), father (Abe), and brothers (David, Herman, Stanley, Martin, and Allen). His father was a pawnbroker catering to the large military presence in the Pensacola area, and also ran the concessions at the Pensacola Greyhound Park and at a store on Pensacola Beach. Levin attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, as an undergraduate, but did not do well academically. Instead, he was known as a drinker, smoker, and gambler. He was a member of Pi Lambda Phi, one of two Jewish fraternities on campus. It was at the University of Florida where he met his future wife, Marilyn, who was a member of the Jewish sorority Alpha Epsilon Phi. The Levins had been married for 51 years upon her death on February 6, 2011, survived by four children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

In 1958, Levin entered the University of Florida College of Law, mainly because he didn't want to leave the college party lifestyle, and his older brother David had established a small law firm where he could work. He had to attend summer school to get into law school, as his grades were below the required minimum 2.0 average. In 1958 virtually anyone who was white could get into a Florida public law school, but approximately one-third would graduate.

In Levin's first few weeks of law school, he received news that his brother Martin didn't have long to live, succumbing to the end-stages of leukemia. Levin approached the dean of the law school, and asked for a few days away from school to attend his brother's funeral. The dean looked at Levin's undergraduate record, and told him that he could take the time off and that he didn't need to return as he never would make it through law school.

Levin drove from Gainesville to Pensacola, but did not make it to Pensacola before his brother died. Ignoring the advice of the dean, Levin returned to law school where he thrived, finishing third in his class. Levin's plan after law school was to return to Pensacola and practice with his brother for one year, and then return to law school to get a masters in tax law. He had no intention of becoming a trial lawyer as he was terrified by public speaking.

On January 12, 2021, Levin died from COVID-19 complications.

Legal career

In 1961, Levin began practicing in the law firm of Levin & Askew (now known as Levin Papantonio Rafferty) 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.

Levin 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. Levin won the case and decided he wanted to become a trial lawyer.

In the late 1960s, Levin handled a case involving the wrongful death of a child who had taken the antibiotic Chloromycetin. Levin won the case. While the compensatory damages were not large, the judge allowed Levin 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.

Levin 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, Levin 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 Levin 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 Levin standing in front of an L&N railcar under the headline, "I'll Sue".

Levin 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 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 was listed in every edition of ''Best Lawyers in America''; was a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates; and was inducted into the National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame in 2009.

Tobacco litigation

Levin played a significant role in the litigation brought by numerous states against the tobacco industry during the 1990s. Levin was at a trial lawyer conference when another attorney saw Levin drinking whiskey and smoking a cigarette. The attorney told Levin that smoking was going to kill him, and that he was working with the State of Mississippi to sue the tobacco industry for compensation for all the money Mississippi was spending in Medicaid dollars treating smoking related illnesses. Levin did not believe the legal theory would be successful, explaining that the tobacco industry had never paid a penny to anyone as a result of smoking injuries.

Levin returned to Pensacola and thought about the potential case, and went to the Florida statute allowing the state of Florida to recover against individuals and companies that harm someone where the State has to pay Medicaid. Levin thought that with a few changes in the statute's language, he could rewrite the law so that the State could sue the tobacco industry without the tobacco industry being able to raise the numerous defenses it had relied upon in winning the cases against it.

Levin made the changes, and then approached a good friend who was the dean of the Florida Senate. The two then went to the Governor of Florida, who supported the concept. The dean of the Senate was able to get the law passed on the last day of session and at the last minute. The Senator made it part of another law that received unanimous support in the Senate, and Levin's amendments passed. When the tobacco industry discovered the true intent of the law, it began donating money to Florida senators to repeal the statute. The Senate voted to repeal it, but the Governor vetoed the repeal. The Senate then came within one vote of overriding the Governor's veto, but could not, and the law stood.

After the passage of the law, John French, a lobbyist for Philip Morris USA, stated, "This is probably the single biggest issue to ever have been run through in the dead of the night." John Shebel, president of the pro-business organization Associated Industries of Florida, told the Orlando Sun-Sentinel, "This law is probably one of the worst laws ever passed by any Legislature." Walker Merryman, vice president of the Tobacco Institute, said, "It's certainly creative, and it demonstrates how a government will try to impose a significant financial burden on one portion of the economy."

Gannett News Service

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