In the last months of his life, attorney Richard Rosenbaum knew that other attorneys would need to step in to finish the cases he could not. His son, Ryan, was tasked with reaching out to Rosenbaum’s colleagues to find attorneys who could argue as passionately as he did against the death penalty.
Good luck with that.
“They told me, ‘Your dad is a unicorn. We can’t replace him,’” said Ryan Rosenbaum.
Richard Lawrence Rosenbaum, 67, died Tuesday after fighting cancer for the last 26 years. He was first diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2000 and fought it for six years, with apparent success, his son said. But 10 years ago doctors came back with bad news. The cancer was back, and it had spread.
The diagnosis slowed Rosenbaum, but it didn’t stop him. “His honesty and integrity and professionalism were unmatched,” said friend and colleague Bruce Raticoff. “He was one of the most brilliant lawyers in the profession.”
In a legal career that spanned more than four decades, Rosenbaum took on some of South Florida’s toughest, most hopeless cases. He argued the appellate case of Lionel Tate, the Pembroke Park youth who at 14 was the youngest American ever sentenced to life in prison. Rosenbaum won Tate’s release and the respect of the legal community.
Among his other clients were major league baseball star Jose Canseco, serial killer Danny Rolling and Randy W. Tundidor, the Plantation man sent to death row for murdering his landlord in 2010.
“I know my dad was a big fan of being a fighter,” said Ryan Rosenbaum, 31, a software developer who lives in the Gainesville area. “He never showed that he was struggling with his health. He definitely leaves a big hole for all of us to fill. He’s a great guy. He’s my role model.”
Rosenbaum was born in Indiana and studied at Duke University and the University of Florida. He was an avid swimmer, and in 1980 was hoping to represent the United States in the Summer Olympics before President Carter announced a boycott of the Moscow games.
He ended up in South Florida, earning his law degree at Nova Southeastern University in 1984.
In addition to his son, Rosenbaum is survived by his father, Chuck, his sister, Heidi Jurish, his stepmother (Mona) and stepsisters (Dana and Renee Garfin), his daughter-in-law (Kahlia), aunt and uncle Margo and Don Blumenthal and cousin Joscelyn.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Lindsey Jo, and his mother, Gayle.
A service is planned at 2:45 p.m. Friday at Star of David Funeral Chapel, Memorial Gardens Cmetery, 7801 Bailey Road in North Lauderdale.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.