Cosa Nostra News

In 1989, Gambino boss John Gotti put out feelers to trial lawyer James LaRossa , who Gotti wanted to hire to represent him as co-counsel for an anticipated prosecution for the 1985 Paul Castellano murder. James LaRossa, left, Paul Castellano, middle. We mentioned this in a recent post about James LaRossa — the accomplished trial lawyer who died in 2014 at the age of 82 — who is now the topic of a biography written by his son , James. Last of the Gladiators, A Son’s Memoir is available now. As we were noting, as per federal investigators, Gotti’s invitation included the proviso that if LaRossa were to decline, the noted attorney would find himself pushing up daisies a lot sooner than he would’ve thought possible. When asked about the alleged threat, LaRossa wasted no time in declaring it a joke, and nothing more. Prosecutors gave him a healthy out, in any event. They told LaRossa that he might be called as a witness because of his association with Castellano, who ...

James LaRossa -- who was among the most accomplished trial lawyers of his generation, who died in 2014 at age 82 -- is now the topic of a biography written by his son . Last of the Gladiators, a biography about James LaRossa. Last of the Gladiators, A Son’s Memoir will be available on September 10. The son of a mailman, James Michael LaRossa was born in Brooklyn in 1931. He graduated from Fordham University, including its law school, and served in the Marines during the Korean War. He chose the legal profession because if “you really worked, you could grow without the obvious family connections, " he once said. LaRossa considered himself one of "the last of the gladiators” — his characterization of defense lawyers — and spent decades engaging in spirited courtroom battles on behalf of mob bosses, politicians, labor leaders, and judges. He defended hundreds of white-collar criminals but his best-known cases involved Mafia bosses. He represented Paul Castellano...