James L. Ferraro

James L. Ferraro is an experienced and accomplished trial lawyer with a long list of accolades and case wins. Ferraro has fashioned his law practice with a focus on cases involving product liability, personal injury, wrongful death, and environmental toxic torts.

For over 20 years, he has focused his career on asbestos / mass tort litigation, achieving major results in injury cases, including jury verdicts totaling multi-millions of dollars. Mr. Ferraro obtained the highest compensatory recovery in a Florida mesothelioma lawsuit in 1995. He also achieved a nationally record-breaking compensatory jury award for a benign asbestos case in 1997.

He was among just 10 finalists from around the country considered for 1997 Trial Lawyer of the Year after being the first to successfully prosecute a case against a major chemical giant whose products led to birth defects. In a nationally televised and recognized case, Mr. Ferraro held chemical giant DuPont responsible after a woman’s baby was born missing eyes after she was exposed to a dangerous fungicide during her pregnancy. The Supreme Court of Florida re-affirmed this verdict seven years later.

Mr. Ferraro later wrote a book about this case called Blindsided. This book chronicles his experience taking on the industrial giants in a real-life David and Goliath fashion. You can read this incredible courtroom drama and get an insider’s perspective of Mr. Ferraro’s relentless approach to litigation.

Education & Background

Mr. Ferraro graduated from the University of Miami with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1978 and, in 1979, a Master of Science degree in accounting. The following year, in 1980, he went on to become a certified public accountant (CPA). He also instructed an accounting class in 1982 at the University of Miami. Then he went to the University of Miami School of Law in 1983 to receive his law degree.

Previous Experience

Mr. Ferraro founded The Ferraro Law Firm in Miami and is one of the two founding partners behind the Cleveland, Ohio firm Kelley & Ferraro LLP. His firms currently represent nearly 50,000 asbestos claimants.