21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Who is A$AP Rocky's controversial lawyer, Joe Tacopina?
A$AP Rocky and Rihanna have joked that they want to name their next baby after Joe Tacopina, the lawyer who successfully led the rapper to a non-guilty verdict in his felony shooting trial on Tuesday, as reported by Billboard. Joe Tacopina has called A$AP Rocky 'a great person'. Photo: @tacopinalaw/Instagram
'Rihanna and Rocky said to me in the courtroom yesterday, they grabbed me and they said, 'Listen, our next baby is A$AP Joe,'' Tacopina told Extra in an interview after the legal proceedings came to a close in Los Angeles. Joe Tacopina in the Tacopina Law Box at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, in September 2024. Photo: @tacopinalaw/Instagram
Currently A$AP Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers), 36, and Riri, 37, share two sons, RZA, two, and Riot, one. A$AP had been accused of firing a gun at a former friend and would have faced up to 24 years in prison if found guilty, per the BBC. The Grammy-nominated rapper pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations.
Here's what we know about A$AP Rocky's powerhouse lawyer. Joe Tacopina's background Joe Tacopina teaching at Harvard Law School in January. Photo: @tacopinalaw/Instagram
Tacopina was born in Brooklyn on April 14, 1966. Joe Tacopina arrives for the third day of a civil trial against Donald Trump at Manhattan Federal Court in April 2023, in New York. /TNS
He studied at Skidmore College in New York before getting his law degree at the Quinnipiac University School of Law in Connecticut. He began his career as a prosecutor in Brooklyn, and is now a senior partner and lead trial attorney at Tacopina Seigel & DeOreo in New York.
Away from his law career, he also dabbles in football. In August 2021, he acquired the Italian Serie B football club Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor (SPAL), per The Independent. Forbes called him the 'most experienced American owner' in Italian football. Who are some of Joe Tacopina's most famous clients?
