Trump lawyer Tacopina has a lot in common with his client

During his almost 30 years as a New York trial lawyer, Tacopina has had a roster of A-list clients including former New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, rapper Meek Mill and Rihanna’s husband, rapper A$AP Rocky. 

Now it’s Trump. Tacopina took the lead, giving the opening statement to the jury, in the trial of the former president in Manhattan Tuesday, where Trump is accused of defamation and sexual assault by writer E. Jean Carroll.

“I told them I’m not doing five cases at once, but the first big case to go to trial,” Tacopina said in an interview. “When the federal case is finished, I will then pitch in.”

He didn’t wait. Before the Carroll trial got underway, Tacopina was next to Trump when the former president pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with payments made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep their alleged sexual encounters with Trump quiet before the 2016 election. He’s also been a regular on TV defending the former president.

“This case is every defense lawyer’s dream,” Tacopina said. “I’ve got a firm of six, not 100, but I’m totally committed.”

Tacopina, 57, has some unexpected fans. Lanny Davis, the veteran lawyer represents Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen, who promises to be one of the prosecution’s star witness against the former president, is one. But Davis praised Tacopina in an interview.

“Joe is a strong advocate, but he doesn’t play with adjective and attack words, he does facts,” said Davis, who’s been friends with Tacopina since they both defended Rodriguez as he fought Major League Baseball over allegations he used steroids. “He’s the kind of lawyer who’s very effective when he speaks and communicates to a jury.”

Davis said Tacopina won’t have an easy time defending Trump in his criminal trial though.

“No jury is going to believe Donald Trump is not a philanderer and nobody will believe he did not have an affair with Stormy Daniels.”

Tacopina’s first shot at swaying a jury is Carroll’s case, before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan. She claims Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s. Trump says it never happened, and has said Carroll’s not his type.

It’s not the first time Tacopina has appeared before Kaplan. The last time the two were in the same courtroom, Tacopina said he was “ecstatic” with the result.

He represented a New York police officer who sued the city claiming she was harassed by colleagues and superiors after she married another female officer. Kaplan sharply rebuked the NYPD, saying it was “outrageous” it had violated federal policy by not investigating the woman’s claims. She settled in the middle of the trial.

But Tacopina is getting a cooler reception from the judge this time. Kaplan has rejected many of his requests, including a trial delay because of negative publicity from the former president’s indictment. Kaplan denied that, noting much of the bad publicity Trump complained about “was of his own doing” and his incendiary comments on social media.

Raised in blue-collar Brooklyn to Italian immigrants, Tacopina’s competitive edge was evident when he was captain of his college’s hockey team and held the school record for most career penalty minutes. The New York Islanders scouted him, but he went to law school instead.

He said he got hooked on law after reading “Fatal Vision,” the true crime book about an Army doctor who killed his wife and two daughters and the nine-year battle to bring him to justice.

“That did it for me,” he said. “Every page I turned I changed my opinion and I thought this trial stuff is amazing. That’s what I want to do.”

He’s also not your typical New York lawyer. Tacopina was knighted in 2019 for his work with the Venezia soccer team, which he owned.

“I am a jeans and T-shirt guy when I can,” he said, noting he also had a private tailor who makes his suits. “I have trouble off the rack.” 

Tacopina’s love of soccer led him to buy stakes in several Italian teams, eventually selling his Maserati and a yacht to raise funds. He’s met with success, with Forbes Magazine dubbing him “Italian Soccer’s Most Experienced American Owner” in 2021.

He was part of a group which bought AS Roma in 2011, making the decision to help purchase it after attending a game with his kids and seeing the scoreboard wasn’t working. He currently owns Italian soccer club SPAL.

After getting his law degree from Bridgeport Law School in Connecticut, Tacopina worked for criminal defense lawyer Bruce Cutler. Cutler’s client at the time was Mafia crime boss John Gotti, who was charged with ordering the shooting of a union official. 

“I was the wiretap guy,” Tacopina said proudly of his time toiling behind the scenes. A jury acquitted Gotti, helping him earn the moniker of “the Teflon Don.”

Tacopina then joined the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office where he said he won 39 of 40 trials. As a defense lawyer, he’s won a streak of acquittals many thought were impossible.

Arthur Aidala, a criminal defense lawyer and Tacopina’s friend since high school, praised Tacopina’s ability to connect with jurors.

“He has the ability to tell jurors, ‘I’m one of you, I’m not going to mislead you,’ and jurors identify with him,” said Aidala, who defended Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Aidala said he ran into Tacopina soon after he joined the prosecutor’s office in the 1990s. 

“He told me, ‘It’s the greatest job in the world, you’ll make more money pumping gas at Mobil, but it’s still the greatest job.’”