Close
Share Your Story
with Trial Lawyer’s Journal
Trial Lawyer’s Journal is built on the voices of trial lawyers like you. Share your journey, insights, and experiences through articles, interviews, and our podcast, Celebrating Justice.
Stay Updated
Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest from TLJ.
Mike Papantonio
Senior Partner & Trial Lawyer | Levin Papantonio
Mike Papantonio is a mass torts, pharmaceutical litigation and environmental law (toxic torts) trial lawyer and senior partner & trial lawyer at Levin Papantonio in Pensacola, Florida. J.D., Cumberland School of Law, Samford University (1981). Contributor to Trial Lawyer’s Journal.
Meet Mike
Mike “Pap” Papantonio didn’t plan on becoming a lawyer. He studied journalism at the University of Florida, with dreams of covering global revolutions as a foreign correspondent.
But one conversation changed everything. A mentor—Perry Nichols, widely regarded as one of the greatest trial lawyers of his generation—told him that the best lawyers are often storytellers, grounded in literature, culture, and history. That meeting didn’t just change Papantonio’s career path; it defined his life’s work.
Raised by a network of working-class families across central Florida, Papantonio was shaped by people who lived paycheck to paycheck. That early exposure to struggle and humility sparked a deep and enduring loyalty to the underdog. Today, as senior partner at Levin Papantonio Rafferty, he channels that loyalty into holding the most powerful institutions in the country accountable—drug manufacturers, chemical giants, financial institutions, and global corporations.
Over four decades, Papantonio has built one of the most influential plaintiff law practices in the United States. He’s tried some of the first major cases involving PFAS “forever chemicals,” opioid litigation, and pharmaceutical fraud. He’s helped secure billions in settlements and verdicts, transforming not just lives—but industries.
But for Papantonio, being a trial lawyer means more than winning cases. It means educating the public through fiction and nonfiction writing, producing award-winning legal documentaries, and co-founding Mass Torts Made Perfect (MTMP), the largest plaintiff attorney conference in the world. His bestselling legal thrillers—gritty, sharp, and grounded in truth—expose the dark underbelly of corporate America in ways mainstream media often won’t.
Papantonio views the law not just as a career but as a platform: a license, as he puts it, “to clean up an ecosystem, to get bad drugs off the market, to get mom and pop’s money back when Wall Street steals it from them.” He doesn’t shy from controversy or confrontation. He pursues large-scale, high-impact litigation because, in his words, the scale of harm demands the scale of response.
A fierce critic of institutional failure—from the Department of Justice to corporate media—Papantonio remains unflinching in his belief that trial lawyers are often the last line of defense for public safety. His work has inspired legislation, informed public opinion, and changed corporate behavior.
And through it all, he keeps telling stories—on the air, in the courtroom, and on the page—because for Mike Papantonio, truth and justice are inseparable, and storytelling is the weapon of choice.
Contributions
M.P.M.P. – Mike Papantonio Made Perfect
It must have been the tequila — and the first wave of my morning hangover — slowly starting to crack my brain awake around 6:30 a.m. Or maybe it was the rum? Now that I think about it, it was... Read More
Podcasts
Experience and Expertise
Qualifications
Timeline
- Earned B.S. in Journalism, University of Florida (1978)
- Earned J.D., Cumberland School of Law, Samford University (1981)
- Joined Levin Papantonio as a trial lawyer (1983)
- Became named partner in Levin Papantonio law firm (1990s)
- Hosted national legal talk show "Ring of Fire Radio" (2004–2022)
- Co-founded Mass Torts Made Perfect legal conference (2001)
- Inducted into National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame (2015)
- Recipient, Perry Nichols Award—the highest honor from the Florida Justice Association (2015)
- Tried first PFAS cases in the U.S., sparking national awareness and litigation (early 2000s–2010s)
- Published numerous legal thrillers including Law and Disorder, The Middleman, and A Death in Arcadia (2010s–2020s)
Practice Areas
Mass Torts
40%
Pharmaceutical Litigation
20%
Environmental Law (Toxic Torts)
15%
Securities and Consumer Fraud
10%
Medical Device Litigation
5%
Class Actions
5%
Personal Injury
5%
- National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame, Inductee
- Florida Justice Association
- American Association for Justice
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
- Mass Torts Made Perfect, Co-founder and Lead Organizer
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- PFAS Litigation (Ohio): Tried the first three cases against DuPont, helping to prove the link between PFAS exposure and cancers such as testicular and kidney. The early verdicts—initially modest—built momentum for what is now the largest toxic tort litigation in the country.
- Opioid Crisis Litigation: Helped lead the nationwide lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors, securing over $75 billion in settlements. Built the case using evidence collected from DOJ whistleblowers and internal corporate documents.
- Financial Fraud Cases: Prosecuted Wall Street firms on behalf of defrauded retirees and consumers, recovering hundreds of millions in securities fraud settlements.
- Pharmaceutical Torts: Led major litigation involving defective drugs and medical devices, helping remove dangerous products from the market.
- MTMP Platform Creation: Founded and scaled the largest mass torts training and networking platform in the U.S., directly contributing to the growth of high-impact litigation firms nationwide.
Frequently Asked Questions about Mike Papantonio
Why did Mike Papantonio become a trial lawyer?
Mike Papantonio studied journalism at the University of Florida, earning his degree in 1978, and imagined covering revolutions abroad as a foreign correspondent. A conversation with Perry Nichols, regarded as one of the greatest trial lawyers of his generation, changed that: Nichols told him the best lawyers are storytellers grounded in literature, culture and history. Raised among working-class families across central Florida who lived paycheck to paycheck, he carried a lasting loyalty to the underdog into a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law in 1981.
What does Mike Papantonio focus on at Levin Papantonio?
As senior partner at the Pensacola, Florida, firm, he pursues large-scale litigation against drug manufacturers, chemical companies, financial institutions and global corporations: mass torts, pharmaceutical and medical device cases, environmental and toxic torts, securities and consumer fraud, class actions and personal injury. He says the scale of harm demands the scale of response, and describes a law license as a platform “to get bad drugs off the market, to get mom and pop’s money back when Wall Street steals it from them.”
What cases have defined Mike Papantonio’s career?
He tried the first three PFAS cases against DuPont in Ohio, helping prove the link between the “forever chemicals” and cancers such as testicular and kidney cancer; those early, modest verdicts built momentum for what is now the largest toxic tort litigation in the country. He also helped lead the nationwide opioid litigation against manufacturers and distributors, built on Department of Justice whistleblower evidence and internal corporate documents, which secured over $75 billion in settlements, and has recovered hundreds of millions for retirees and consumers defrauded by Wall Street firms.
What does Mike Papantonio do beyond the courtroom?
He co-founded Mass Torts Made Perfect in 2001, which grew into the largest plaintiff attorney conference in the world, and hosted the national legal talk show “Ring of Fire Radio” from 2004 to 2022. He writes bestselling legal thrillers, including Law and Disorder, The Middleman and A Death in Arcadia, that expose corporate misconduct, and produces award-winning legal documentaries. In 2015 he was inducted into the National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame and received the Perry Nichols Award, the Florida Justice Association’s highest honor.
Where did Mike Papantonio go to law school, and where is his firm located?
Mike Papantonio earned a B.S. in journalism from the University of Florida in 1978 and his J.D. from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 1981, joining Levin Papantonio as a trial lawyer in 1983 and becoming a named partner in the 1990s. The firm is based in Pensacola, Florida, with a website at levinlaw.com. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the American Association for Justice, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice and the Florida Justice Association.
Print is Alive
Trial Lawyer's Journal sets a new standard for law journal publications. With limited ads and one-of-a-kind content, it was created to celebrate wins both in and outside the courtroom.