A Los Angeles jury today convicted Tom Girardi, whose work inspired the Julia Roberts film Erin Brockovich, of running a massive 10-year Ponzi scheme in which he siphoned at least $15 million in settlement funds from four of his legal clients.
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The 85-year-old estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne was found guilty of all four wire fraud charges and faces a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years on each count. Read the Justice Department’s release about the case below.
The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon following closing arguments and met for about two hours Tuesday morning before announcing that a verdict had been reached. Girardi, who has dementia, showed no visible reaction as the verdicts were read. In January, he was declared competent to stand trial .
The scams, which ran from 2010-20, were the subject of the 2021 Hulu documentary The Housewife and the Hustler . Girardi was a well-known attorney for his role in the real-life 1980s suit against utility company Pacific Gas & Electric that inspired the 2000 film Erin Brockovich . Roberts won a Best Actress Oscar for the role.
“Mr. Girardi exploited his clients’ misfortunes on a grand scale,” said Justice Department Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher. “His clients sought his help in the wake of significant trauma and injury, yet he violated their trust to steal from them and fund his own lavish lifestyle, and he will now face the consequences of his actions.”
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Once known as a defender of the powerless in class-action lawsuits against corporations, Girardi represented plaintiffs in a number of high-profile cases, including Bryan Stow’s civil suit against Major League Baseball . Stow was the San Francisco Giants fan who sustained severe injuries in 2011 during an attack in a Dodger Stadium parking lot.
Girardi was indicted by the U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada alongside Christopher Kamon, former chief financial officer for the now-shuttered L.A. law firm Girardi Keese, for “engaging in a widespread scheme to steal from their clients and lie to them to cover up the fraud.” Kamon, 50, is accused of pocketing about $50 million from Girardi Keese accounts and scheduled to stand trial separately in January.
David R. Lira, Girardi’s son-in-law and a former lawyer at Girardi Keese, also faces federal fraud charges in Chicago. His trial is set for March 3.
Disbarred plaintiffs’ personal injury attorney Thomas Vincent Girardi was found guilty by a jury today of leading a years-long scheme in which he embezzled tens of millions of dollars of money that belonged to his clients, some of whom awaited payment for treatment of severe physical injuries.
Girardi, 85, of Seal Beach, was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud.
“Tom Girardi built celebrity status and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a ‘Champion of Justice,’” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “In reality, he was a Robin-Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy to support of a lavish, Hollywood lifestyle. Today’s verdict shows that the game is up – we can all now see this defendant for what he was and the victims he callously betrayed.”
“Mr. Girardi exploited his clients’ misfortunes on a grand scale,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. “His clients sought his help in the wake of significant trauma and injury, yet he violated their trust to steal from them and fund his own lavish lifestyle, and he will now face the consequences of his actions.”
“Mr. Girardi was retained to advocate for clients who put their trust in him, but instead, lied to them and stole their money to fund his lavish lifestyle,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Girardi falsely promoted himself in the media as a pillar of the legal community with a heightened sense of justice, but the clients he wronged for many years have now found actual justice in today’s verdict.”
According to evidence presented at a 13-day trial, Girardi – a once-powerful figure in California’s legal community – ran the now-defunct law firm Girardi Keese. For years, Girardi misappropriated and embezzled millions of dollars from client trust accounts at his law firm. The scheme involved defendant Girardi stealing millions of dollars in client settlement funds and failing to pay Girardi Keese clients – some of whom had suffered serious injuries in accidents – the money they were owed.
In carrying out this scheme, from October 2010 to late 2020, Girardi provided a litany of lies for failure to pay clients and directed a law firm employee to pay previously defrauded clients or other unrelated expenditures. Girardi sent lulling communications to the clients that, among other things, falsely denied that the settlement proceeds had been paid and falsely claimed that Girardi Keese could not pay the settlement proceeds to clients until certain purported requirements had been met. These bogus requirements included addressing supposed tax obligations, settling bankruptcy claims, obtaining supposedly necessary authorizations from judges, and satisfying other debts.
Girardi diverted tens of millions of dollars from his law firm’s operating account to pay illegitimate expenses, including more than $25 million to pay the expenses of EJ Global, a company formed by his wife related to her entertainment career, as well as spent millions of dollars of Girardi Keese funds on private jet travel, jewelry, luxury cars, and exclusive golf and social clubs.
At the end of 2020, as Girardi and his law firm faced mounting legal problems related to his years-long theft of client funds, Girardi Keese was forced into involuntary bankruptcy. The State Bar of California disbarred Girardi in July 2022.
United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a December 6 sentencing hearing, at which time Girardi will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count.
Relatedly, co-defendant Christopher Kazuo Kamon, 50, formerly of Encino and Palos Verdes and who was residing in The Bahamas at the time of his November 2022 arrest on a federal criminal complaint, awaits trial in this matter in January 2025. Kamon, the former chief financial officer at Girardi Keese, is charged with multiple fraud counts for allegedly aiding and abetting Girardi’s scheme to defraud clients. Kamon allegedly also embezzled millions of dollars from the law firm’s accounts for his own personal enrichment. Kamon, who remains in federal custody, has pleaded not guilty to these charges.
Girardi, Kamon, and David R. Lira, Girardi’s son-in-law and a former lawyer at Girardi Keese, also face federal fraud charges in Chicago. Trial in that case is scheduled for March 3, 2025.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI investigated this matter. The Office of the United States Trustee provided assistance.
Assistant United States Attorneys Scott Paetty and Ali Moghaddas of the Major Frauds Section are prosecuting this case.
CNS contributed to this report.
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