Gary M. Farmer Jr.

Gary M. Farmer, Jr., is a partner with The Law Offices of Freedland, Farmer, Russo, Behren & Sheller of Weston, Florida and is affiliated with Sheller, P.C. He has a diverse and wide-ranging practice background, all of which involves litigation and appellate practice.

Prior to the formation of Freedland, Farmer, Russo, Behren & Sheller, Mr. Farmer worked in a variety of capacities. His past experience includes two years with the Florida Attorney General's office practicing eminent domain litigation. Mr. Farmer began his private practice of law with the insurance defense firm originally known as Bunnell, Woulfe & Keller, where he worked for five years. After leaving Bunnell, Woulfe & Keller, Mr. Farmer practiced with Carlton Fields, one of the largest firms in Florida, where he again concentrated on defense work, primarily medical malpractice defense and eminent domain litigation. In 1998, Mr. Farmer left Carlton Fields and joined the firm that became known as Gillespie, Goldman, Kronengold & Farmer. While there, Mr. Farmer changed his field of concentration to plaintiffs' practice and became involved in a variety of high profile and significant cases.

In November of 2000, Mr. Farmer was retained by voters and served as lead plaintiffs' counsel, along with Stephen A. Sheller, in the butterfly ballot litigation in Palm Beach County, Florida, which helped determine the 2000 Presidential Election. Subsequently, he was part of the legal team that tried the Martin County absentee voter case in Tallahassee, Florida. After meeting several nationally prominent lawyers in these cases, Mr. Farmer was asked to become involved in a group of class action cases filed against the tobacco industry involving ""light"" and ""ultra light"" cigarettes. Mr. Farmer is lead counsel in a Florida class action filed against Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, including the now certified action against Philip Morris, which is essentially identical to the case in Illinois in which a Ten Billion Dollar verdict was recently rendered.

Mr. Farmer has also been a leading advocate for HMO subscribers and is counsel on several cases which have helped reform Florida law regarding suits against HMOs. In the case of Greene v. Well Care HMO, Mr. Farmer essentially created a common law right of action against HMOs who wrongfully deny healthcare treatment or services prescribed by plan physicians. In addition to litigating healthcare coverage on behalf of individuals against HMOs, Mr. Farmer devotes a significant part of his practice to representing individuals in a variety of insurance coverage disputes against carriers, including disability claims, auto claims, and bad faith litigation.

Mr. Farmer has also become very active in representing consumers in a variety of cases against manufacturers and distributors who commit unfair and deceptive trade practices. He is lead counsel of record in a Florida class action seeking compensation for patients whose medical records were released without their consent or authorization to a pharmaceutical drug company, which in turn used that information for marketing purposes -- including the actual mailing of dangerous prescription drugs to unsuspecting patients without their authorization or consent. One of the patients was a sixteen year old boy who had never been prescribed medication or diagnosed with the condition for which the medicine was manufactured. In this era of free flow of information and the corporate raiding of our rights and privacies, Mr. Farmer has become a vanguard in the area of consumer protection litigation.