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Owner, CEO
JIM FERRARO
OWNER & CEO
Longtime trial lawyer Jim Ferraro purchased the Arena Football League’s New Jersey franchise in 2000, and relocated the team to Las Vegas in December of 2002. Following the 2007 season, Ferraro, along with new business partner Bernie Kosar, relocated the Gladiators to Cleveland. The 2009 season marks Ferraro’s ninth season in the Arena Football League.
Mr. Ferraro is President of The Ferraro Law Firm based in Miami and a founding owner of the Cleveland-based firm Kelley & Ferraro, LLP. Mr. Ferraro has fashioned his law practices in the areas of product liability, wrongful death, catastrophic personal injury and medical malpractice. He has specialized in asbestos litigation for over 15 years and currently represents more than 40,000 asbestos victims.
In 1997, Mr. Ferraro was one of ten finalists for Trial Lawyer of the Year. Mr. Ferraro invested his money and more than 10 years of his time to win the first-ever verdict in the world against a chemical company for causing a birth defect. In Castillo v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, the manufacturer of the fungicide Benlate, Mr. Ferraro proved that DuPont produced a chemical that caused severe microphthalmia (a defect that causes infants to be born without eyes). The 1996 trial resulted in a $4 million verdict, was covered in its entirety on Court TV and received worldwide attention.
Mr. Ferraro has negotiated settlements totaling close to $1 billion. Mr. Ferraro is also a Certified Public Accountant and taught Accounting at the University of Miami while in law school. He is a member of the Florida, New York, Massachusetts and Ohio Bars; American Bar Association, Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Association of Trial Lawyers of America; Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, Florida State Coordinator for Trial Lawyers for Public Justice; and the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
A native of Greenwich, Connecticut, Mr. Ferraro graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1978 and a Master of Science in Accounting in 1979. He also received his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1983.
Mr. Ferraro is a member of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta. He was a recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in May 2001 in the same class as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Yankees great Yogi Berra. Mr. Ferraro is a Trustee of the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation and serves on the Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida.
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