Erika Jayne Scores Legal Victory in $5 Million Lawsuit!

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Erika Jayne, scored a legal victory in court this week in the $5 million lawsuit filed by two colleagues of her estranged husband, Tom Girardi.

Attorneys, Philip R. Sheldon and Robert P. Finn, filed the lawsuit in late 2020. 

Erika’s lawyer, Evan C. Borges, confirmed to Page Six that Los Angeles Judge Richard Fruin found no evidence that the reality star took part in “any wrongdoing.”

The lawyers’ firms alleged that they referred thousands of cases to Tom and his now-defunct firm, Girardi Keese, “pursuant to an agreement to share in the attorneys’ fees paid when the cases settled.”

The lawyers behind the lawsuit “are both seniors who devoted the twilight years of their careers to working on these cases with the promise and expectation that they would have the resources necessary to retire once Girardi paid them for the services they performed.”

The lawyers accused Tom of concealing funds and refusing to pay, per their agreement. The plaintiffs believed that the since disbarred lawyer “embezzled and redirected the funds to family members, friends, partners, lenders, and creditors, and used the money to fund outrageously lavish lifestyles” for himself and the Bravo star. 

Erika responded by arguing that the lawyers’ and her estranged husband’s  alleged fee-sharing agreement “blatantly violated and did not comply with the applicable California Rules of Professional Conduct.”

The judge ruled Monday that the plaintiffs failed to prove that the reality star had any “actual knowledge” of her ex’s alleged crimes. 

The judge cited Erika’s deposition in which she said, “Listen, they did all the books at Girardi & Keese. They were in charge of all the ledgers … I didn’t do the invoices.”

She added—“I just thought it would all be taken care of. I didn’t really ask. Like, it’s not like I was raking in millions of bucks … I didn’t know what they were doing down there.”

Judge Fruin also cited a declaration made by the plaintiffs, in which they admitted that Erika had nothing to do with agreements between Tom and his colleagues. He stated that the lawyers’ argument that funds were funneled to EJ Global LLC were based on “inferences” about “circumstantial evidence,” such as her income and expense schedule, and not on direct evidence. The judge rejected the idea that Erika’s lavish lifestyle funded by marital funds was connected to “actual knowledge any breach of fiduciary duty.” He also pointed out that attorneys “do not owe fiduciary duties to their co-counsel.”

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Ronald Richards, plans to appeal the ruling. He told Page Six that he plans to prove that Tom “had a fiduciary duty to third parties who were expecting money” from a trust account.

The judge concluded—“The Court finds that there is no triable issue of material fact as to Ms Girardi having ‘actual knowledge’ of plaintiffs claims of the existence of a fiduciary duty between plaintiffs and [Girardi and Girardi & Keese].”

“The Court, therefore, grants summary judgement in favor of defendant Erika Girardi.”

Borges said that the ruling is “critical” because it is the “first time that a Court of law has looked at ALL the supposed evidence against Erika, and the Court found in Erika’s favor.” 

“Because it is the truth, the Court concluded that there is NO EVIDENCE of any knowledge on Erika’s part of any wrongdoing by Tom Girardi or Girardi Keese, and NO EVIDENCE of Erika’s participation in any wrongdoing.”

The attorney added that he expects all the other “aiding and abetting” lawsuits against the Bravo personality to “fail for the same reason” as they are “contrary to the truth and based on no real evidence.”

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