James Michael Papantonio (born October 24, 1953) is an American torts lawyer, television presenter, radio talk show host and writer. He has been inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame. As a professional trial lawyer, Papantonio co-hosts Ring of Fire, a nationally syndicated progressive weekly radio program, with Sam Seder, where he is referenced as America's Lawyer. In December 2016, Papantonio began hosting a program on RT America called America's Lawyer. Biography Papantonio graduated from the University of Florida and received his J.D. from Cumberland School of Law. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1982 and the bar of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 1983. He graduated from DeSoto County High School, Arcadia, Florida. Papantonio is a senior partner in the Pensacola, Florida-based Levin Papantonio Law Firm, a leading mass torts firm. Within the lawyer community, Mike Papantonio is known for his work in mass torts, product liability, personal injury, and wrongful death cases, and has returned numerous verdicts of multi-million dollar damages. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since 1999, and has written several books, including the legal thriller Law and Disorder; Resurrecting Aesop: Fables Lawyers Should Remember; Clarence Darrow, the Journeyman; and In Search of Atticus Finch, A Motivational Book for Lawyers, as well as Defenses You Can Count on in an Asbestosis Case and How to Prove a Sick Building Case. He also co-authored Closing Arguments–The Last Battle with Fred Levin. Papantonio says he wrote In Search of Atticus Finch as a "wake-up call to the legal profession that has largely lost its moral compass" and has said that "seventy percent of kids coming out of law school want to represent corporations and get paid exorbitant amounts of money," he says. "They're willing to sell their souls to the highest bidder. We need to bring more quality to what we do as lawyers, we need to be better servants to the community and we need to have more political involvement for positive change in the country." In 2004, Papantonio helped launch a nationwide organization called Mass Torts Made Perfect. This organization holds annual conferences for the top personal injury attorneys and teaches them successful litigation strategies to use against multi-national corporations. Ring of Fire airs weekly on Saturdays from 3-6 p.m. EST. On the radio show Papantonio, a Methodist, often criticizes the Christian right.