Thomas F. Liotti, colorful Long Island attorney, author, village justice, dies at 79

Storied Long Island attorney Thomas F. Liotti loved the law. The law didn’t always love him back. But as a high-profile defense counsel, widely published legal author and more than three-decade Westbury justice of the peace, he remained utterly devoted to the blindfolded woman holding those vaunted scales.

"He's always been a little bit controversial," said his wife of nearly 50 years, Wendy Liotti. "You either love him or you hate him — there's usually not a lot of in between. He always did whatever he thought was necessary for his clients, and sometimes his methods were a little over-the-top and unexpected, but that's the way he thought he could best represent people."

"He was a forceful advocate for the things that he stood for. He and I didn't always agree on everything," said Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro, a longtime colleague who lauded Liotti’s decades-long efforts for the village, "but he stood up for the Constitution and individual rights and for people in the community who needed help."

Liotti died of complications from progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare brain disease, on Nov. 2 at his home in Westbury. He was 79.

As an attorney, he fiercely exemplified defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel. "He gave everybody the best representation they could get," said his wife. "As any defense lawyer would probably tell you, people say, ‘How can you represent those people?’ And he would say, ‘Everyone is entitled to representation, and their innocence or guilt has nothing to do with that.’ "

Notable clients

His clients included some of the Island’s most notable and notorious: Former Nassau County Legislator Roger Corbin, convicted of tax evasion and related charges in 2010; documentary producer Nathan Chandler Powell, who in 2003 pleaded guilty to killing and beheading his film’s director; and, among others, Ryan D. Wagner, convicted in 2001 as one of two men who severely beat two Mexican day laborers in Shirley, making national headlines.

In his civil suits, often working pro bono, he defended underdogs, such as a Black woman suing a Lawrence co-op board over racial discrimination; plaintiffs alleging police brutality; and even a death-row inmate in Florida, using his own funds to travel there in the man’s defense.

"He frequently took controversial positions," said his friend and former law partner, mediator Peter Skelos, a retired associate justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. "He believed in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and 14th Amendments," which enshrine specific rights including that of due process to individuals accused of crimes. "He was a staunch defender of the Constitution."

Thomas Francis Liotti was born in Brooklyn on May 29, 1947, and adopted days later by Louis Joseph Liotti, an AT&T worker and union negotiator, and homemaker Eilen Frances Lambe Liotti. Though very close to both parents — his father coaching him into becoming a champion swimmer — Thomas did not learn until age 60 that he was adopted, when the severely ill, 91-year-old Louis disclosed the fact. That revelation became the basis for Thomas’ self-published books "The Secret Adoption" (2011) and "Memoirs of an Adopted Child" (2020).

The family moved to Salisbury and then, in 1951, to Westbury, where Liotti became a standout varsity swimmer at Westbury High School and, for his final two years, at Plainview-Old Bethpage High School. As a physical education major at Adelphi University in Garden City, he set school swimming records and was named an NCAA All-American each year from 1968-70. In 1968, the future Adelphi Panthers Hall of Famer competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Becoming interested in politics, Liotti, as vice president of Adelphi’s Student Association, helped found the region’s now-defunct Metropolitan Association of Student Governments, and in 1971 ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Westbury School Board.

Co-founded law firm

He earned a master’s degree in public administration in 1972 from Baruch College/City University of New York, and a Juris Doctor in 1976 from the Delaware Law School of Widener College, in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he had been president of the student bar association and a member of the law review.

In 1977, while working part-time as a swim coach and substitute teacher and full-time as a health teacher in Great Neck public schools, he ran unsuccessfully for North Hempstead supervisor. That same year he began practicing law, and in December 1977 married Wendy Lynne Zeilman.

A decade later he co-founded the law firm Liotti & Skelos, initially in Carle Place and then in Garden City. Skelos left in January 1995 for a judgeship and Liotti continued in solo practice.

He by then had been appointed to fill a vacancy for the part-time position of Westbury justice of the peace. Elected to the post later that year, Liotti served from 1991-2023. He also was president of the Nassau Criminal Courts Bar Association from 1993-94 and a president of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, among other positions.

While his combativeness sometimes earned rebukes from judges, it also could help uncover official wrongdoing. Following verbal attacks and anonymous threatening mail from Nassau County Court Judge B. Marc Mogil, Liotti in 1996 succeeded after more than two years in having Mogil removed from the bench — the Court of Appeals unanimously finding six acts of misconduct. This became the basis for Liotti’s self-published 2008 book "Judge Mojo: The True Story of One Attorney’s Fight against Judicial Terrorism."

License suspended

Conversely, Liotti in 2024 had his license suspended for six months after accusing a judge of political motivations in a divorce case involving his client Katuria D’Amato, estranged wife of former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato.

In addition to writing numerous law-journal articles and cited opinions, Liotti was co-author of "Convictions. Political Prisoners — Their Stories" (Orbis Books, 1981) and "DNA: Forensic and Legal Applications" (Wiley-Interscience, 2004). He wrote many letters to the editor and the occasional op-ed for Newsday.

Despite his long hours working, said his wife, he was a husband and father "with conviction and passion. He always told our children, ‘You can do or be anything you want and I will be behind you.’ He was very positive, very supportive, and tried to get them to push to their limits, just like he had."

In addition to his wife, he is survived by son Louis Liotti of New Jersey; daughters Carole Liotti and Francesca Liotti, both of Westbury; and two grandchildren.

Visitation is Thursday, 4-8 p.m., at Donohue Cecere Funeral Directors in Westbury. A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Friday, 11 a.m., at St. Brigid Catholic Church in Westbury, with burial following at Westbury’s Cemetery of the Holy Rood. Donations may be made to CurePSP.