Skinny’s former,Uncle Joe and lawyer to many Philly mob guys Joseph Santaguida died at 81. I may be wrong but I think he was Joeys lawyer until Feds pulled a Gotti/Cutler on him so he couldn’t defend Skinny and now Skinny has Jacobs. I know they tried to make it so he could defend Skinny because Santaguida went to visit Horsehead in jail and told him all old beefs would be forgiven when word got out Horsehead May cooperate.
Read Cutler's Wikipedia for the CliffsNotes. Cutler wasn't allowed to represent Gotti because he was acting like a criminal himself.
When Gotti was indicted in 1990 for the 1985 murder of Paul Castellano and several other crimes, presiding judge I. Leo Glasser disqualified Cutler and two associates from representing Gotti. Citing evidence from wiretaps at Gotti's Ravenite club, prosecutors contended that Cutler and his colleagues may have known about criminal activity. Since the attorney-client privilege does not apply in these circumstances, prosecutors argued that Cutler was "part of the evidence" and thus liable to be called as a witness. They also argued that Cutler had represented other potential witnesses and thus had a conflict of interest. Glasser sided with the prosecutors, contending that Cutler was the "in-house counsel" for the Gambino family.