Fred Levin

At 87 years old, Fred Levin physical status not available right now. We will update Fred Levin's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

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.

Career in boxing

In 1989, Levin began managing the boxing career of Roy Jones Jr., who had just returned from Seoul, Korea, having earned a silver medal in the 1988 Olympic Games. The fact that Roy did not win the gold medal became an international issue after it was discovered that three of the judges had been subject to inappropriate contact, and yet awarded the gold medal to Roy's opponent or ruled it a draw. Roy had dominated his opponent (Park Si-hun), landing almost three times as many punches. Although the three judges were suspended, with two being banned for life, Roy was not awarded the gold medal. He was, however, awarded the outstanding competitor in the games by the International Amateur Boxing Association.

The fact that Levin was chosen to help manage Roy's career was controversial considering he had no experience in the boxing business. Roy had been courted by some of the biggest names in boxing, including Don King and Sugar Ray Leonard. Roy's father, Roy Jones Sr., chose Levin to manage his son's career because Jones Sr. no longer trusted the boxing establishment after the Olympic decision. Jones Sr. once stated: "The boxing biz has stolen the medal from my son."

Levin negotiated a middleweight championship fight for Roy against James Toney. Roy won the fight, and then earned a multimillion-dollar long-term contract with HBO. Levin received the 1995 Al Buck Award from the Boxing Writers Association of America as boxing manager of the year; and received the Rocky Marciano Foundation President's Award in 2001.

Levin managed Roy's boxing career from 1989 to 2003. Levin's last fight with Roy involved heavyweight champion John Ruiz on March 1, 2003. Ruiz had recently defeated Evander Holyfield for the championship. Jones officially weighed in at 193 pounds to Ruiz's 226 pounds. Jones won by unanimous decision, becoming the first former middleweight title holder to win a heavyweight title in 106 years, the last being Bob Fitzsimmons in 1896. Jones also became the first fighter in history to start his career as a junior middleweight and become a heavyweight champion.

Later career

At the age of 80, Levin continued to practice law. "I want the practice of law to continue", he said. "I want there to be lawyers. Less and less people are going to law school now. In 2013, applications to accredited law schools dropped for a third consecutive year. My son, Martin, left the practice of law because of its transformation from the personal--a lawyer representing one client--to a business where a lawyer represents thousands of clients in mass tort or class action." Despite his opposition to mass torts, Levin agreed to transfer his law firm's primary practice to this niche area of law. The firm now runs Mass Torts Made Perfect, a conference held twice a year, usually in Las Vegas, to bring together mass tort lawyers from across the country.

In 2013, when he was 76, he won a $3.4 million jury verdict in an ATV case. In 2014, at the age of 77, he won a $12.6 million jury verdict in an automobile accident case. In 2016 (age 79), he was named national Trial Lawyer of the Year.

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