(SOUTHAMPTON, NY) (July 19, 2006) It’s hard to feel sorry for a philandering husband. Especially when he’s married to a wealthy, beautiful woman. But sleazy media-hound lawyer Joe Tacopina elicits pangs of sympathy for Peter Cook, the estranged spouse of supermodel Christie Brinkley.
I don’t know anything about the problems in the Brinkley/Cook marriage that led to les liaison dangereuses. Maybe Bill Clinton could/should offer commentary and "instant opinion" based on his own experiences. But I know that Tacopina’s hunger for personal aggrandizement and publicity have made a sad situation infinitely worse for all concerned.
According to the New York Post the family of Peter Cook’s “victim” hired Tacopina to protect the “child” who was having sex with Cook “in case Bianchi is called as a witness.” By the time this sorry episode is over, Ms. Diana Bianchi’s family will regret ever involving Tacopina and his co-counsel Rosemarie Arnold.
Tacopina’s first step to protect his “client” was to splash her picture on the front page of the Post with an “exclusive interview.” Even the “child” felt uncomfortable, but she was comforted by yet another lecherous lawyer, Rosemarie Arnold, who counseled Bianchi to keep talking to the Post after Bianchi stated, “I don’t like these questions.” At least in a police station the questions stop after such a statement. Not at the Post, not when Tacopina is in publicity overdrive.
The Post refers to Tacopina has “high-powered,” but self-promoting and high-publicity would be more like it. Tac is great on TV, but there is no evidence he enjoys special prowess in the courtroom. And his attempts at personal aggrandizement cause long-term injury to his clients.
Indeed, Tac reminds me of a similar nut case lawyer in Miami, Ellis Rubin. Rubin is also a publicity hound, and he also damages virtually every client who retains him. Rubin's incompetence is legendary, and his tactics are disgraceful and destructive. Ellis Rubin meet Joe Tacopina.
What Tacopina was really doing was the equivalent of a purse snatching, hoping that Peter Cook would pay off Bianchi to avoid the bullets of Tac’s publicity machine gun. If I were Peter Cook I would tell Tacopina to stop engaging in “child abuse” and get lost. Of course, Tac has an answer. The Post says he told Bianchi to hold back about the "other women" and specific sex acts. Those juicy morsels have been saved for later editions of the sexual purse snatching.
Andrea Peyser, a columnist for the Post, was also in high dudgeon and moral overdrive over Tacopina's prey. Peyser said Cook was a ”dog in heat.” Pretty hot it seems.
I did find it interesting that in Southampton, New York toy store, a 17 year-old girl was being paid $12 an hour (!) to sell toys. Has Wal-Mart been notified of these excessive salaries? Surely it was because of her talent and experience. Twelve dollars an hour?
Tacopina thought he could pull a fast sting and extort Cook. But all Tac is doing by cranking up his publicity machine is harming his client. This 19 year-old girl may or may not be a temptress. But just ask Amy Fisher what it’s like to live you life in the wake of front-page headlines. Not easy and not pretty. The Bianchi family and Ms. Bianchi’s stepfather may come to regret ever having hired Tacopina. Or Rosemarie Arnold for that matter.
When I was in law school, women were just starting to enter profession. Some men were afraid that women would “humanize the practice of law." Fat chance. Women are at least as vicious and predatory as men, and just as greedy and morally unscrupulous. Just look at Ms. Arnold, the “sexual harassment specialist” recruited by Tacopina to share in the Bianchi booty.
When Bianchi expressed feelings of discomfort, Arnold patted the helpless young thing on the bottom and told her to have at it (the New York Post, that is). Hey, a buck’s a buck, but does a woman really have to earn it that way? Or a man for that matter? But don’t ask smokin’ Joe to stop. He just loaded another bandolier of bullets in his publicity machine gun. He's loving it.
Money will never compensate Ms. Bianchi for the notoriety that lawyers have attracted to her case. But don’t get in the way when a “dapper lawyer” such as Tac is within striking range of a TV camera. It's open question who would kill who in Mortal Combat for TV exposure: Tacopina, or U. S. Senator Charles Schumer, who is also no slouch when it comes to publicity mania syndrome.
Christie Brinkley (and Cook was presumably the father) has two kids. Were Arnold and Tacopina thinking about them when they splashed a minor sex scandal on the front page of a tabloid newspaper? In the middle of a war that could trigger a worldwide conflagration?
As between war and sex, apparently sex sells better. It
sure smells better. Even if Tacopina's professional ethics leave an olfactory deficit in this jaded advocate's nose.
Peyser says Tacopina "has the e-mails." I guess e-mails have replaced "smoking guns." But, obviously, Tacopina lacks the common sense and self-restraint to avoid seeking to extort a philandering husband by making a public spectacle of his "victim."
For the record, I know a little bit about sexual
harassment. I helped make the law 37 years ago. I am not at all confident that a willing liaison between an employer and employee, where no force and no threats were used, is a good case. But it sure looks good to the unwashed masses that see it on the front page of the morning paper. So much for law.
Besides, publicly extortion is not a crime. If Tacopina had
joined the Mafia instead of the bar, he'd be in a lot of trouble now. The way things are, only Ms. Bianchi will suffer the consequences of her family's misguided choice of an attorney.
Well, lets be honest. In New York, sex sells, and summer sex really sells. And "Hamptons sex" super sells. Now about that war going on over there? Naw, that can’t light a candle to an explosion caused by Christie Brinkley's unfaithful husband. As for Peter Cook, he needs a press agent as well as a lawyer.
Maybe he could call Bill Clinton for advice. I bet Clinton
is already "feeling Cook's pain" and wondering when Ms. Bianchi will be on the meat rack again.
What was that popular song a few years ago, "Who let the dogs out?" Maybe, Andrea, we need a new song: "Who let the lawyers out?" Dogs in heat come in many shapes and sizes. The same is true for greedy lawyers. Joe Tacopina, camera two in 45 seconds. Then give the man a fist (a traditional cue on camera). Maybe someone should giver Tacopina a different kind of fist. For what he has done to Christie's children and the "child victim" Diana Bianchi.
As I said, Joe Tacopina's shameless behavior is enough to make you feel sorry for a philandering husband. And that's saying something.