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Fredric Gerson Levin (born March 29, 1937) 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 $10 million cash donation he made to the school in 1999. The gift was the largest-ever cash donation to the University of Florida; the second-largest gift ever to a public law school when matched with state funds; and more than three times larger than any gift in the college's 90-year history. The naming drew statewide attention because of the vehement criticism of having the state’s prestigious law school named after a person many thought to be reprehensible and undeserving. One letter to the then dean of the law school read: "I have no problem with naming the law school in honor of an appropriate person, as other colleges have done, but naming our college after Fred Levin does no honor to him, to the institution, or its constituency, and demeans the efforts of the many deans, faculty, and alumni who have worked for so many years to achieve the vision of making our college one of the top twenty law schools. . . . You degraded the image and prestige of the University of Florida College of Law by selling its good name to Fred Levin, a lawyer who has been castigated by the courts for abusing the rules, and is notorious for commercializing the practice, thumbing his nose at the bar, and otherwise manipulating the system." In response, Levin told the press: "Two hundred years from now the great, great, great grandchildren (of my critics) will be getting their law degrees from a school with my name on it. It's a good feeling." "It makes me feel great, when their great-grandchildren go up to that stage to get the law degree, they'll know that, dadgum it, that Jew's name is up there on the damn diploma. It's just gotta eat at them." Fred (as he is most commonly referenced) 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, and making Fred one of the wealthiest individuals in Florida after his law firm earned a more than $300 million fee. His flamboyant and brazen personality has resulted in him being prosecuted by The Florida Bar two times, and investigated two additional times. A comprehensive biography on Fred's life was written by Five-Time ''New York Times'' bestseller (Josh Young ) and published by BenBella Books. The book is called (''And Give Up ShowBiz?'' ) ''How Fred Levin Beat Big Tobacco, Avoided Two Murder Prosecutions, Became a Chief of Ghana, Earned Boxing Manager of the Year & Transformed American Law''. Young summed up his thoughts on Fred, and trial lawyers in general, as follows: "After spending a year researching and writing this book, I have a mixed perception of trial lawyers of Fred Levin's caliber. They can be heroes, yet vulgar. Their actions often are motivated by immense financial incentive, but also often result in colossal societal health benefits that could not be attained without them. They can be self-absorbed and egomaniacal, but at the same time unusually empathetic. Without question, they have been historically needed to preserve and protect individual liberties and freedom, and to promote universal safety improvements in all facets of commercial life." The life of Fred Levin was best summed up in the weekly peer-reviewed journal ''The Lancet'', which is the one of the world’s oldest and best known medical journal. 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. 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. . . . Love him or hate him, Fred Levin has enhanced the lives of many who needed help, and lived a life that only could be emulated in a Hollywood movie . . . and probably will be." ==Personal life== Fred was born on March 29, 1937, in Pensacola, Florida. He grew up in a conservative Jewish household, with his mother (Rose), father (Abe), and brothers (David, Herman, Stanley, Martin & 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. Fred attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, as an undergraduate, but was far from a scholar. Instead, he enjoyed drinking, smoking, gambling and socializing. 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. Marilyn and Fred had been married for 51 years upon her passing on February 6, 2011, survived by four children and seven grandchildren. In 1958 Fred 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 that Fred could work. He had to attend summer school just to get in to law school, as his grades were below the required minimum 2.0 average. In 1958 virtually anyone could get into a Florida public law school, but relatively few would graduate. In Fred’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. Fred 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 Fred’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. Fred drove from Gainesville to Pensacola, but did not make it to Pensacola before his brother died. Ignoring the advice of the dean, Fred returned to law school where he thrived, finishing third in his class. Fred’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, having blown his Bar Mitzvah speech. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fred Levin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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