It's interesting that you ask this question because many legitimate organizations use the law to protect themselves--and mount the equivalent of rackets--in ways that are far more effective than the Mafia's way of doing things:

A business, to be legally incorporated, has to be granted a Certificate of Incorporation by the state it's registered in. Actually, most of the benefit of registering goes to the business, because by legally incorporating, its officers enjoy immunity from certain kinds of lawsuits and even criminal prosecutions. For example, you can't sue an electric utility if the power went out and the food in your refrigerator spoiled. If a meat packer's tainted meat killed consumers, the company could be sued, but its officers or workers could not be prosecuted criminally unless they were proven to have knowingly and actively violated laws. And senior officers routinely avoid taxes by getting lots of compensation in the form of stock options (subject only to 15% capital gains tax when sold, not the topmost income tax rate) or via interest-free loans. Houses of worship and charities get tax relief in return for registering and following certain regulations (such as not contributing to or endorsing political candidates, not using donated funds for pastors' personal gain, etc.). Foundatons can be a real racket. If you form and register a foundation, all contributions to it are tax-deductable for the contributors. The regulations say you can't take money from the foundation for yourself. But you can use your foundation's money to buy a house, register it to the foundation, call it the "headquarters," and live in it. Ditto furniture, appliances, cars, etc. The Mob could take lessons from them.