About Troy Rafferty

Legal strength comes from preparation, not reaction

Meet Troy

Hard Work. Persistence. Never Saying No.

Troy Rafferty has dedicated his life to service. His mission is to defend the defenseless and hold powerful institutions and corporations accountable for any wrongdoing. More than just a trial lawyer, philanthropist, entrepreneur, businessman, and family man, Troy embodies all of those traits and more as he pursues justice for all.

“For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue. And it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself”

Viktor Frankl

Awards & Recognition

Inclusion in the following publications:

  • The Legal 500
  • Florida’s Legal Elite
  • Florida Super Lawyers
  • The Best Lawyers in America
  • 2024 Lawdragon.com 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers Guide
The Perry Nichols Award (2016).

Such is the highest award given by the Florida Justice Association, reserved for attorneys whose perseverance, commitment, sense of service, and dedication to civil justice are the driving factors in their professional lives.

The Living the Dream HK Matthews Legacy Award (2018)

Troy received this award for recognition of his commitment, vision, leadership, service, and contribution to keeping Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream alive.

Super Lawyers 2022

For the past 16 years, Mr. Rafferty has been selected into this elite class of attorneys. His experience, leadership, service, and contributions have trail blazed the way for what an exemplary attorney is and stands for.

The Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory awarded Troy an AV rating (the highest level awarded).
The American Trial Lawyers Association also selected Troy as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the nation. Further, Troy was one of only 500 U.S. attorneys inducted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He was also recognized on the INWeekly Power List for the Most Influential People in Northwest Florida.
Troy is board-certified in Civil Trial Law by the Florida Bar. He also served as President of the Florida Justice Association from 2014 to 2015. He has been active in that institution since. Troy also served on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors for that same institution.
Other Awards

  • The Eagle Legend Award (2013)
  • The Silver Eagle Award (2011, 2012, 2016)
  • The Gold Eagle Award (2009, 2010, 2013-2015)
  • The Centurion Award (2016)
  • The President’s Award (2016)
  • The Last Round Award (2016)
  • The Rough Rider Award (2011)

Philanthropy

An Entrepreneur and Businessman

True civil trial law attorneys understand their career choice is one of service to others. Troy fully embodies that vision in his professional work and philanthropic endeavors. Troy and his wife, Ashley, fund two local scholarships in Pensacola; the Rafferty Scholarship and the Rafferty Award. The scholarships are awarded annually to two local high school prep athletes. Troy also founded the Rafferty Hope Scholarship, granted annually to two underprivileged Pensacola children to pay their college tuition. Perhaps most notably, in 2022, Troy and his wife, Ashley, donated $1 million of their own funds to the Southern Youth Sports Association in Pensacola.

He is a fellow in the International Society of Barristers, where he works tirelessly to improve legal practices across America. Troy became a shareholder at Levin Papantonio Rafferty in 1994 and has grown the practice since. Troy will celebrate his 30th anniversary with the firm in 2024.
Troy specializes in professionally litigating major personal injury, mass tort, and pharmaceutical cases. In addition to his credentials as a Board-Certified Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar, Troy was appointed to the Civil Trial Certification Committee.

Verdicts & Settlements

Though he is based in Florida, Troy’s legal prowess is such that he’s been appointed to work on some of the country’s most significant pharmaceutical and mass tort cases of the 21st century.
Some of the national cases Troy is currently serving on include:

Troy is currently serving as Liaison Counsel in the matter of the National Prescription Opiate Litigation case currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Troy has been appointed as Co-Lead Counsel in the matter of the Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agent Litigation case currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Troy is on the Plaintiff’s Executive Committee in the matter of the Abilify Products Liability Litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Troy is also on the Plaintiff’s Executive Committee in the matter of the Benicar Products Liability Litigation case, which is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Troy is serving on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee in the matter of the Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation case currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Troy is serving on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee in the matter of the Fresenius Granuflo/Naturalyte Dialysate Products Liability Litigation case pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Troy was also appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky to serve on the Executive Committee for the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee in the case regarding Yamaha’s defective Rhino product.

Prominent Past Cases that Earned National Recognition

Troy’s legal victories throughout his multi-decade career with Levin Papantonio Rafferty are many. Just three examples of significant past cases include:

  • Troy was appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to serve on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee in the national Vioxx Litigation case. That case resulted in a $4.7 billion national settlement.
  • Troy also served on the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee in the national Zyprexa Litigation in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. That litigation resulted in a $700 million settlement on behalf of numerous clients across the country.
  • Troy was one of the leading attorneys in the national Rezulin litigation. That case was filed in the Southern District of New York.

Major Verdicts and Settlements Over $1 Million

Troy is known nationwide for his successful jury verdicts and settlements of over $1 million, including:

  • Verdicts for $9.2 million and $12.6 million in Escambia County, Florida.
  • A verdict of $18 million in New Jersey (one of the top 100 jury verdicts in the country in 2012).
  • Troy and his attorney partners obtained a $40 million jury verdict in a 2001 case in Corpus Christi, Texas. That case involved a plaintiff who was harmed after taking the diabetes drug Rezulin.
  • Troy has tried numerous complex pharmaceutical cases throughout the country that have involved multiple plaintiffs and defendants. In 2017, Troy secured jury verdicts in two pharmaceutical cases of $150 million and $140 million. These cases were the 13th and 15th largest jury verdicts in the United States that year.
  • Perhaps most notably, Troy Rafferty and his legal partners took on Big Pharma in a big way. In 2021, the team secured a $26 billion settlement for pharma distributors’ role in the opioid epidemic. In Troy’s own words, “They knew what they were doing, they knew they were shipping millions of pills into small towns all over the country.” That case was to date the largest settlement secured by Rafferty, and it changed the way the American legal community and broader public viewed Big Pharma and that corporate sector’s involvement in the opioid epidemic.

Published Works/Presentations

Multidistrict Litigation 101 – How a Tort Becomes a Mass Tort, Florida Justice Association Journal, March/April 2015
Benicar – Big Pharma Hides the Dangers to Protect the Profits, Florida Justice Association Journal, January/February 2015
Anatomy of a Personal Injury Lawsuit, co-author, book chapter, Anatomy of a Personal Injury Lawsuit, 4th Ed. John Romano, Editor, 2015
Testosterone Therapy – Debunking the Fountain of Youth, Florida Justice Association Journal, April/May 2014
Tylenol Acute Liver Failure Litigation: Hidden Danger and Mispalced Trust, Florida Justice Association Journal, July/August 2013
GranuFlo – FMC’s Dark Secret Revealed, Florida Justice Association Journal, March/April 2013
Transvaginal Mesh: Device Failures Lead To Disastrous Results, Florida Justice Association Journal, January/February 2013
The Case Against Daubert – “Junk Legislation” Backed by Business, Florida Justice Association Journal, January/February 2012
Antidepressants and Birth Defects: How The Past Should Guide The Future, Florida Justice Association Journal, September/October 2011
The Bisphosphonate Irony – Fosamax-Induced Femur Fractures, Florida Justice Association Journal, Issue 551, February 2011
Yaz – Beyond Negligence, The Trial Lawyer Winter 2011
The DePuy ASR Hip Implant Recall – Defective Design Leads to Disastrous Results for Patients, Florida Justice Association Journal, Issue 549, November/December, 2010
The BP Oil Catastrophe – An Introduction to the Oil Pollution Act and Relevant State Laws, Florida Justice Association Journal, Issue 547, July/August, 2010
Pharmaceutical Litigation: Recent Trends and Developments, Florida Justice Association Journal, Issue 522, August, 2007
With Contrast or Without Contrast – What is the Gadolinium Based Contrast Agent Litigation?, Florida Justice Association Journal, Issue 530, June, 2008