Remembering Fred Levin, Esteemed Trial Lawyer & Philanthropist

Fredric Levin, an esteemed trial attorney, and longtime friend of Top Class Actions died Tuesday at the age of 83. 

He’s remembered warmly by TCA staff and many others as an icon of consumer justice who took on big tobacco. 

“I was privileged enough to know Fred and break bread with the man, the legend, on multiple occasions,” Scott Hardy, President and CEO of Top Class Actions said. “I’m happy to have known him and will cherish those memories, and his advice, the rest of my life.”

Levin, a native of Pensacola, Florida, began practicing law in 1961. He had a profound impact on his surrounding community. 

“Fred loved being a lawyer, he loved helping people, and he loved life,” law firm Levin Papantonio Rafferty Proctor Buchanan O’Brien Barr Mougey said of Levin. “He will be remembered as a tremendous trial attorney, a generous benefactor and a great friend.”

Levin enjoyed a successful career and became known as one of the country’s top trial attorneys, gaining notoriety acclaim after taking on many high-profile cases.

In 1993, Levin rewrote the Florida Medicaid Third Party Recovery Act, a groundbreaking law that enabled the State of Florida to take legal action against the tobacco industry to recover expenditures related to treating smoking-related illnesses.

He used this law to head an effort that ultimately resulted in a $13 billion settlement with the tobacco industry.

In 2016, Levin was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and given just nine months to live. Like the fighter he was, Levin beat the odds and lived several more years.

In appreciation for the hospital and the medical team that treated his cancer, he donated $2 million to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, establishing the Frederic G. Levin Distinguished Chair in Thoracic Surgery and Lung Cancer Research.

Levin was more than just a skilled trial attorney. His commitment to the legal profession and his community have improved the lives of many.

Throughout his career, he donated more than $35 million to nonprofit organizations and universities. The University of Florida’s law school bears Levin’s name after he made a generous $10 million donation to his alma mater in 1999.

He also helped to build the Bear Levin Studer Family YMCA, located in downtown Pensacola.

Levin was not afraid of controversy during his career. The Florida Bar reportedly conducted four separate investigations over Levin’s controversial remarks. He received a public reprimand from the bar in 1990 after he criticized the prosecution of gambling crimes.

Levin enjoyed other interests outside the field of law. In 1989, Levin became the boxing manager for Roy Jones Jr., a fellow Pensacola native who earned the heavyweight championship in 2003.

In lieu of flowers, the Levin family asks that donations be made to Gulf Coast Kids House in Levin’s name.