Joe Tacopina

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Joe Tacopina
JoeTacopina 01.png
Tacopina in 2018
Born (1966-04-14) April 14, 1966 (age 58)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Education Skidmore College (BA)
University of Bridgeport (JD)

Joseph Tacopina (born April 14, 1966) [1] is an American criminal defense lawyer, media personality, and professional sports executive. He became known as an advocate for high-profile clients in high-profile cases. [2] Sean Hannity has described Tacopina as one of "the greatest attorneys of all time". [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Tacopina was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian immigrants. His father Cosmo (1917–2011) was originally from Rome, and his mother Josephine (née Oliva; 1924–2019) came from Montelepre in the province of Palermo. [4] [5] [6] Cosmo sold packing boxes, while Josephine was an accountant with the New York City Fire Department. [7]

Tacopina was raised in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn and attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush, where his parents thought that he would get a better education than at the local public school. [8] He attended Poly Prep in Brooklyn, [9] and Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, [10] before graduation in 1991 from the University of Bridgeport law school (now Quinnipiac University School of Law). [11]

Tacopina teaches trial skills at Harvard Law School's Trial Advocacy Workshop. [12]

Tacopina is a name partner and lead trial attorney at his Manhattan-based law firm, Tacopina, Seigel & DeOreo [13] . He startewds as a prosecutor in Brooklyn and later moved to private practice. [14] Tacopina' clients have included New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez; [15] Joran van der Sloot, [16] the suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an American high schooler in Aruba; [17] Michael Jackson; [18] Italian sailor Chico Forti; [19] actor Lillo Brancato; [20] New York state senator Hiram Monserrate; [21] rappers ASAP Rocky [22] and Meek Mill, [23] and Kimberly Guilfoyle. [24] He has also represented NFL team Washington Commanders and team owner Daniel Snyder. [25]

Tacopina was the lead trial attorney in 2019 representing Nauman Hussain, who was charged with criminally negligent homicide in the previous year's Schoharie limousine crash. [26] Tacopina represented Julian Khater, who had maced three police officers during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

In 2023, Tacopina served as a personal attorney for former and current U.S. President Donald Trump, representing him in a New York criminal case involving payments made to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels [27] , and in a civil case in which Trump was not found liable for the rape claim but was liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll. [28] [29] [30]

Media appearances

Tacopina has been a commentator for Fox News, CNN, Newsmax and MSNBC. He has served as "legal correspondent" for ABC in Perugia following the Amanda Knox case [31] and has also appeared as an attorney on the American reality television court show, You the Jury . [32] He was named on Billboard 's most influential people in hip hop list. [33] Tacopina can be heard on WABC Radio's weekly show, Sid & Friends in the Morning, in New York. [34]

Association football

Tacopina as chairman of S.P.A.L. in 2022 Joe Tacopina presidente della SPAL.jpg
Tacopina as chairman of S.P.A.L. in 2022

Tacopina has held executive positions on four Italian football clubs. In 2011, he was part of the American consortium led by Thomas R. DiBenedetto that purchased A.S. Roma, with Tacopina becoming vice-chairman of the board of directors, in October 2011. On September 8, 2014, he resigned from the board. [35]

A preliminary agreement to acquire Bologna F.C. 1909 was signed on September 17, 2014, and was formalized on October 8. On October 15, Tacopina officially assumed the post of president of the club. [36] [37] On November 17, 2014, Joey Saputo was appointed chairman. [36] Tacopina maintained his role as president until he resigned in October 2015. [36]

Tacopina purchased Italian football club Venezia F.C. in October 2015. [38] He sold his shares and resigned in January 2020. [39] On August 13, 2021, Tacopina became president and owner of Italian football club S.P.A.L. [40]

Awards

Personal life

Tacopina is a resident of Westport, Connecticut. [11]

References

  1. ↑ BFC 1909 Lux SPV S.A. filing in Luxembourg Company Register
  2. ↑ "Joseph Tacopina". The National Trial Lawyers. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  3. ↑ Haberman, Maggie. "Key Trump Lawyer Withdraws as Manhattan Trial Nears". The New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  4. ↑ Vitelli, M. (January 26, 2017). "Tacopina: "Venezia, prima la A e poi tra le big. Con uno stadio tutto nuovo"". Gazzetta.it . Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Joe Tacopina: "Baccaglini ha fatto fuori Cascio, che vergogna. Chi dietro di lui? Ho un'idea. Su Zamparini…"". Mediagol.it. March 21, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Josephine Tacopina - Marine Park Funeral Home" . Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  7. ↑ Eligon, John (June 11, 2009). "A Case That Will Test a Lawyer's Bond With the Police". New York Times . Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  8. ↑ Leibovich, Mark. "A-Rod’s Defender Knows How to Tap Dance", The New York Times , September 20, 2013. Accessed December 24, 2023. "[Q] You grew up in Sheepshead Bay, and yet you went to Yeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school. [A] My mother and father quickly determined that the best education I was going to get as a young child was at Yeshiva, instead of getting beat up at P.S. 12. I still have my yarmulke."
  9. ↑ "Home". polyprep.org.
  10. ↑ "Home". skidmore.edu.
  11. 1 2 Eligon, John. "A Case That Will Test a Lawyer’s Bond With the Police", The New York Times , January 11, 2009. Accessed November 18, 2019.
  12. ↑ Mohr, Ian. "Joe Tacopina takes his talents to Harvard Law School". Page Six. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  13. ↑ Tacopina, Joseph. "Tacopina Law". Tacopina, Seigel & DeOreo. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  14. ↑ Tacopina, Joseph. "Joseph Tacopina". The National Trial Lawyers. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  15. ↑ Eder, Steve (August 17, 2013). "Lawyer Says the Yankees Misled Rodriguez About His Injuries". The New York Times.
  16. ↑ "1-800-Save-My-Ass". March 13, 2007.
  17. ↑ Yang, Allie; Shapiro, Emily (November 20, 2019). "Natalee Holloway's disappearance remains unsolved nearly 15 years later: A timeline". ABC News. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Jackson to stand trial on abuse charges". TheGuardian.com . April 21, 2004.
  19. ↑ "The case against Enrico Forti: Is he the Italian Amanda Knox?". CBS News . December 7, 2019.
  20. ↑ "'Sopranos' actor Lillo Brancato cleared in murder of cop, convicted of attempted burglary". New York Daily News . December 23, 2008.
  21. ↑ Molloy, Joanna (September 24, 2009). "Hiram Monserrate's legal Houdini Joseph Tacopina waves magic wand at testimony". New York Daily News . Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  22. ↑ "'Rocky turned around and shot me': Rapper's childhood friend testifies about Hollywood shooting". Los Angeles Times. November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Meek Mill's Lawyer Joe Tacopina Calls Rapper's Prison Release Bittersweet". TMZ. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  24. ↑ "'Rocky turned around and shot me': Rapper's childhood friend testifies about Hollywood shooting". The Daily Beast . November 8, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Dan Snyder's attorney raises conspiracy questions with defamation suit".
  26. ↑ "Schoharie limo operator pleads guilty, will serve no jail time".
  27. ↑ Bubalo, Mattea. "Who is Stormy Daniels, and what happened with Donald Trump?". BBC. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  28. ↑ Mangan, Dan; Breuninger, Kevin (January 15, 2024). "Trump loses attorney Joe Tacopina as porn star hush money trial looms". CNBC . Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  29. ↑ Lang, Hannah (January 16, 2024). "Trump lawyer Tacopina withdraws from Manhattan legal team". Reuters . Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  30. ↑ Haberman, Maggie (January 15, 2024). "Key Trump Lawyer Withdraws as Manhattan Criminal Trial Nears". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  31. ↑ "Knox: 'I Am Innocent, I Will be Free'". ABC News .
  32. ↑ "You the Jury". IMDb . April 7, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Billboard's 2018 R&B/Hip-Hop 100 Power Players Revealed". Billboard . September 27, 2018.
  34. ↑ Rosenberg, Sid. "Joe Tacopina Defense Attorney". 77 WABC. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  35. ↑ "2013–14 Annual Report" (PDF) (in Italian). A.S. Roma. October 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 28, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  36. 1 2 3 Bologna F.C. 1909 bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2014, PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A. (in Italian)
  37. ↑ "Joe Tacopina è il Presidente del Bologna" (Press release) (in Italian). Bologna F.C. 1909. October 15, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  38. ↑ "U.S. lawyer Joe Tacopina buys Italian club Venezia FC". espnfc.us. October 9, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Venezia, nuova proprietà: via Tacopina, ecco Niederauer". Corriere dello Sport. February 19, 2020.
  40. ↑ "Spal, Tacopina ufficialmente nuovo presidente". ITA Sport Press. August 13, 2021.
  41. ↑ "Joseph Tacopina". New York Magazine. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  42. ↑ "At Annual Triumph Awards on October 9th, Rev. Al Sharpton and NAN to honor leading social justice and civil rights advocates from entertainment & corporate sectors". National Action Network. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  43. ↑ "Joseph Tacopina: Top rated White Collar Crimes attorney in New York, New York". Super Lawyers. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  44. ↑ "Billboard's 2018 R&B/Hip-Hop 100 Power Players Revealed". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  45. ↑ Cullins, Ashley. "Hollywood's Troubleshooters: Top 35 Lawyers for Death, Divorce and Other Disasters". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  46. ↑ "Il presidente Tacopina ha ricevuto il Premio Eccellenza Italiana a Washington D.C." S.P.A.L. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
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