Login | February 20, 2025
Legendary trial attorney Daniel L. Rossi remembered
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: February 13, 2025
Known as the “Dean of Trial Lawyers,” Mahoning County attorney Daniel L. Rossi represented many low-income clients during his decades-long career, scoring significant wins and helping his clients through some of the darkest times in their lives, said Rossi’s son and former law partner attorney Gregg A. Rossi.
“My father believed that the law was a great equalizer because it provided everyone—regardless of their economic status or ethnicity—a fair shake,” said Gregg.
“He came from humble beginnings, but became very successful and embraced the chance to help others in any way he could,” said Gregg, a partner at Rossi & Rossi Co.
“He used his talent, time and wealth to assist countless nonprofits and improve educational opportunities for everyone in Mahoning County.”
On Dec. 22, 2024, the former longtime Boardman resident passed away peacefully in Naples, Florida after a brief illness, while surrounded by his family.
Rossi was 97.
In recent years, Rossi lived with his daughter, Lisa Fitzpatrick and her husband Jim.
She described her father as “the rock of the family,” and “a pillar of strength,” adding that everyone in the family looked up to him.
“Growing up our father was always there for his children, and that continued when we were adults,” said Fitzpatrick, one of Rossi’s five children.
“We each had our own special relationship with him,” said Fitzpatrick. “Our father was gregarious and outgoing and sharp as a tack to the very end.
“He had a photographic memory and his mind never stopped working,” she said. “He was larger than life and anyone who met him never forgot him. They threw away the mold when they made our dad, that’s for sure.”
Gregg Rossi said his father had a way of making everyone feel welcome and special.
“Our dad was interested in his fellow man,” said Gregg. “He would tell my sister Nina that our friends were his friends and he loved to hear about their stories and experiences.
“I had the privilege of working with him for 25 years before he retired,” said Gregg. “He was my hero, mentor and role model. Even after he started spending his winters in Florida we would talk every day. We would discuss the cases I was working on, and when I got a good result he was the first person I would tell.
“I miss him terribly,” said Gregg. “I want to make him proud of me by carrying on his legacy of service to others, the community and the legal profession.”
Born in Youngstown on June 16, 1927, he was one of August and Augusta (nee Mastrantonio) Rossi’s two children.
Named Dante Luigi Rossi by his parents, who emigrated to the U.S. from Italy, he grew up on the east side of the city during the Great Depression.
“As the son of Italian immigrants, my father experienced poverty firsthand, which later inspired him to give back to the underprivileged,” said Gregg.
Daniel Rossi’s father served in World War I as part of the American Expeditionary Force that fought against the German Army in the Argonne Forest in France.
After graduating from East High School, Rossi enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 17, serving in the Philippines for 16 months. As a World War II veteran, Rossi was honored many times during his lifetime for his service.
“Like his father, my dad was very proud of his military service,” said Gregg. “As he got older, it became a huge cornerstone of his identity. He came to believe that everyone could benefit from military service because it provides critical life skills.”
Upon his honorable discharge, Rossi received $20 a week for 52 weeks from the 52/20 Club, helping him to cover day-to-day expenses, while attending Youngstown College.
After earning his law degree from Ohio Northern University in 1952, Rossi returned to the Youngstown area and started his own practice, primarily representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases and handling domestic relations matters.
He met his wife Mary Rossvanes in the Central Tower Building where his practice was located. At the time, she was working as a legal secretary at a nearby office in the same building.
By the time his son Gregg joined his father’s practice in 1990, Rossi was already a successful trial lawyer.
“My father had a commanding presence in the courtroom much like that of Clarence Darrow,” said Gregg. “He believed every word that he said and was very persuasive.
“Despite his success, he advised me not to emulate him, but to develop my own style.”
After trying and winning his last jury case at the age of 81, Rossi retired in 2011 at the age of 84.
Over the years Rossi served as a role model for many attorneys, most of whom never worked at the firm.
Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum met Rossi in 1975 when he was a bailiff to the late Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Clyde W. Osborne.
“Dan Rossi was a great trial attorney,” said Judge Krichbaum. “I learned a lot just by watching him and the high standards that he set.
“Later when I started practicing, we would see one another in the courthouse,” he said.
“While we did not do the same type of work, we had good discussions about how to try cases and practice law.”
Judge Krichbaum, Rossi and other well-known attorneys and judges were part of a weekly lunch group that met on Tuesdays at various restaurants around the county.
“Dan was very opinionated but in a positive way,” said Judge Krichbaum. “He believed in what he did and was willing to stand up and defend his positions.
“He was a consummate professional and gentleman,” he said.
Judge Krichbaum said Rossi was “a true patriarch,” whose family was as devoted to him as he was to them.
“Dan was a very dear friend and a special person,” said Judge Krichbaum. “He treated his friends like they were family. He was a pleasure to be around.”
Attorney James L. Messenger, now of counsel at Henderson, Covington, Messenger, Newman & Thomas Co. was an integral part of what he calls the Lunch Table.
“I met Dan around 1970,” said Messenger. “We did not have cases together nor against each other. We were good friends both personally and professionally.
“Dan was a family man and a very effective plaintiff personal injury lawyer,” said Messenger. “He was intelligent and demonstrative when he spoke and quite convincing.”
Attorney Brian Kopp, a founder of Betras Kopp and managing shareholder of the firm’s complex litigation and sports law practice groups met Rossi while he was a clerk for U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Judge Peter C. Economus.
“Judge Economus was part of the lunch group that met downtown and he took me to some of those lunches, which is how I got to know Dan.
“Dan stood out from the crowd as an attorney that all lawyers should aspire to emulate,” said Kopp. “When I started practicing we were technically competitors for plaintiff’s work, but he was such a professional that he was willing to share his experience and knowledge.
“He was a great legal mind, but that paled in comparison to how much he cared about his clients and seeing their cases through,” said Kopp.
While there was more than a 40-year age difference, Kopp said Rossi was one of his best friends.
“We had a special relationship,” said Kopp. “Dan taught me that if you don’t stand up for people in tough times, they can get lost in the system.”
Rossi’s grandson James Melfi, now an attorney at Betras Kopp, said his grandfather “Papa” was both his mentor and an inspiration to the profession.
“Two days before my first solo civil jury trial, we had lunch to discuss the issues in the case, and at the end, he said, ‘Remember son, nobody knows your case better than you.’
“When the jury returned a verdict for my client, he was my first call,” said Melfi. “Papa immediately shared the verdict with anyone nearby. No matter his own successes, he was most proud of the lawyers he mentored.”
A longtime member of the Mahoning County Bar Association, the 2017 recipient of the Professionalism Award made numerous contributions to the legal profession and the community at large, including serving as Mahoning County Administrator and on the boards of many nonprofit organizations.
He was a former president and 17-year board member of the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
In the 1960s, Rossi was named secretary/treasurer of Mahoning County Community College, which was authorized by the Mahoning County Commissioners to make a higher education more affordable to residents.
Later Rossi joined the late Ohio Gov. James Rhodes in his campaign to transform Youngstown University from a private school to a state university system, enabling
the institution to receive millions of dollars in state funds.
In October 2021, he established the Attorney Daniel L. Rossi Scholarship at Youngstown State University with a $300,000 gift. In recognition of the contribution, the Ohio Room at Kilcawley Center was renamed the Attorney Daniel L. Rossi Room.
Rossi also made a substantial financial donation to Fellows Riverside Gardens in Mill Creek Park.
The Daniel L. Rossi Auditorium on the lower level of the D.D. and Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center is named in his honor.
He also created a law scholarship in his name at the Mahoning County Bar Association and made generous donations to Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley, The Rich Center for Autism, The Touched by Nathan Foundation and a new project to feed school children facing food insecurity, now named the Mahoning Valley Food Farmacy.
Rossi was a member of the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Alpha Phi Delta fraternity, the Arco Club and Angels Roost.
One of his main hobbies was playing golf, which he did at various locations, including Youngstown Country Club, the Tippecanoe Country Club, the Henry Stambaugh Golf Course, where he caddied at the age of 15, the Mill Creek Golf Club and the Quail West Golf and Country Club in Naples.
Rossi enjoyed antiquing with his wife and playing cards. He also listened to music, played guitar and hosted family gatherings.
He took his family on annual trips, including one to Italy and Greece to show them their roots and culture.
“Our dad will be remembered for his profound love of family, the law and his country,” said Fitzpatrick.
A funeral mass was held for Rossi on Jan. 4, 2025 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Youngstown.
He is survived by his children Elena Rossi Somers, M.D. (Donald), Lisa Fitzpatrick (Jim), Nina Melfi (James) and Gregg Rossi (Deanna); grandchildren Jennifer Santangelo (Josh), Nicole Barson (Zachary), Donald Somers (Becca Hohe), Alexandra Fitzpatrick (James Pollard), Allyson Somers Kinnear, M.D. (Shane), Jimmy Melfi (Nina), Andrew Rossi and Matthew Rossi along with nine great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife Mary, his son Daniel L Rossi Jr., his parents and his sister Theresa Pilolli.