Virginia Buchanan is a shareholder and senior litigator Levin, Papantonio, Proctor, Buchanan, O'Brien, Barr & Mougey, P.A. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida with a degree in Telecommunication and Business Management and received her Juris Doctorate Degree, cum laude, from the University of Florida (now the Levin College of Law).
She has served as lead/co-lead counsel in numerous jury trials and other legal proceedings resulting in awards of more than $500 Million Dollars and her litigation team has been a significant contributor to cases settling for more than $4 Billion Dollars. She has a national practice and works extensively in her local Pensacola and surrounding community. She has appointments in four national litigations, serving as co-lead counsel, discovery co-chair, class certification co-chair, and plaintiffs’ steering committee member. She is a 2024 Florida Trend Notable Women Leaders in the Law, a member of Florida Super Lawyers and Florida Legal Elite, and a Martindale-Hubbell Preeminent and Top Rated Lawyer in Personal Injury. She has been repeatedly designated as a Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Top Consumer Lawyer. She has lectured extensively to bar associations, medical groups, mass tort and class action lawyers.
Ms. Buchanan is a member of the American Association for Justice and is a CPAP Litigation Group Leader. She has served on the Board of Florida Justice Association and Women’s Caucus, and Florida Bar Foundation. She is the Treasurer of the NW Florida Chapter of ABOTA. She also received Florida Bar President’s Award for Pro Bono Service for 1st Judicial Circuit, 2014. She serves on two Florida Bar committees, including the Professional Ethics Committee Member and the Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law. She has been active in numerous organizations and has held a number of positions at the local, state and national level. She is also currently on the Board of Special Olympics of Florida.
She has been admitted to practice in Florida, Alabama, the United States Supreme Court, and numerous federal courts and limits her practice to serious cases involving personal injury and wrongful death. She is the head of the firm’s medical negligence department and is co-chair of the firm’s class action department.
Her publications include:
· Co-author, book chapter, Anatomy of a Personal Injury Lawsuit, 4th Ed. John Romano, Editor, 2015.
· “Getting it Off Your Chest: Why Allergan Breast Implants Are a Big Problem,” V. Buchanan and M. McBride, Journal of The Florida Justice Assoc., May/June 2020
· George Washington University Law School, James F. Humphreys Complex Litigation Center, Drafting Team Member, Class Action Best Practices, 2021
· Chapter 4, Co-Author, “Medicine and Law: When Two Worlds Collide,” Loboto, Emilio B, et al. Complications in Anesthesiology. Philadelphia, Pa.; London, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008. (Reviewed by the Journal of the American Medical Association and chapter excerpt quoted by reviewer).
