Complaints Against Tom Girardi’s Law Firm Mishandled For Years By California State Bar!
The State Bar of California has fessed up to botching investigations tied to complaints against Tom Girardi, the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Erika Jayne, for years. The regulatory agency admitted on Thursday that its investigators mishandled years of complaints levied against the disgraced attorney.
The shocking admission follows a March Times investigation that detailed how Tom managed to keep his law license flawless despite being hit, both personally and through his firm, by more than 100 lawsuits. Many of the suits alleged misappropriation of funds, and the article described how Tom built close relationships with bar employees by treating them to Las Vegas casino parties, private plane transportation, and boozy lunches at Morton’s.
The agency’s Board of Trustees revealed, via a Thursday press release, that an internal audit on the ex powerhouse lawyer’s file at the bar “revealed mistakes made in some investigations over the many decades of Mr. Girardi’s career going back some 40 years and spanning the tenure of many Chief Trial Counsels.”
The audit was conducted by an independent consultant who “identified significant issues” in the “investigation and evaluation of high-dollar, high volume trust accounts,” according to the news release.
The State Bar’s admission was reported ahead of the Monday premiere of a new ABC News Originals documentary called “The Housewife and the Hustler.” The documentary teaser promised to reveal voicemail messages, court records, and unseen footage of Tom’s deposition tape, according to NBC news.
One lawsuit discussed in the special alleges that Tom transferred $20 million in loans from funds taken from his Los Angeles law firm to his soon-to-be ex-wife, Erika Jayne. The ABC documentary alleges that court papers confirm that Tom transferred the cash from Girardi Keese to the reality star’s company, “EJ Global.” The special also features an unseen deposition video in which Tom acknowledges that he’s broke. The attorney had previously built a reputation for winning multimillion-dollar settlements for his clients.
“At one point I had about $80 million, or $50 million in cash – that’s all gone,” Tom admits in the footage. “I also had a stock portfolio of about $50 million, and that’s all gone.”
The documentary also revealed that Erika was subpoenaed twice, once on May 28 2020, and again on September 28, to give a deposition on the couple’s assets. The hearings were reportedly postponed and Erika never answered the questions. The Bravo star filed for divorce from Tom in November, less than two months after the second subpoena was issued.
As previously reported—shortly after the news of the couple’s breakup broke, class action firm, Edelson PC, accused the duo of embezzling settlement funds for families of the victims of Lion Air Flight 610, a crash that killed 189 people, in 2018. The law firm accused the couple of staging the split because they “are on the verge of financial collapse and locked in a downward spiral of mounting debts and dwindling funds.”
“At the heart of this deception is Defendant Girardi and his need to fund outrageous lifestyles for himself and his soon-to-be ex-wife Erika Jayne,” the complaint reads. “To keep up their celebrity status, Tom and Erika must project a public image of obscene wealth at all times, and at whatever the cost.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs on Wednesdays at 8 pm, ET, on Bravo.
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