Closing arguments in the criminal trial against Tom Girardi in DTLA are pending

Closing arguments will be heard Monday in federal court in the criminal trial of Tom Girardi, a disbarred attorney accused of stealing at least $15 million from former clients and spending it on private jets, jewelry and the career of his now-estranged wife, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne.

Girardi, 85, a former plaintiff's attorney and former owner of the Girardi Keese law firm, is charged with four counts of wire fraud after allegedly defrauding injured clients and lying about it.

On Thursday, Girardi was the last witness called to testify by his lawyers, claiming that “every client got every penny they were due.”

The once-influential litigator, who suffers from dementia but was considered capable of defending himself, blamed the former accountant of his now-closed firm, Chris Kamon, for the alleged thefts.

In his opening argument on August 6, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Paetty told a jury in Los Angeles federal court that Girardi treated his clients' trust accounts like “his personal piggy bank,” adding that some clients never saw anything about their settlements.

“He lied to his clients, stole their money, abused their trust and broke the law,” the prosecutor said.

However, federal public defender Sam Cross painted a different picture. He told the commission that the defendant had become forgetful and confused over the years and that Kamon had taken advantage of the weakening of Girardi Keese's superiors.

Kamon “is the man Tom Girardi entrusted with managing the money,” but the defendant had no idea the accountant was looting the company, Cross said in his testimony.

“Tom was getting old,” said the defense attorney, and “chaos” broke out in the office. “Some people took advantage of that.”

Prosecutors allege that Girardi and Kamon embezzled and pocketed millions from customers between 2010 and 2020. A separate trial against 50-year-old Kamon is scheduled to take place in January.

From the witness stand on Thursday, Girardi said Kamon was “quite adept at stealing millions of dollars.”

Earlier this year, Girardi was found competent to stand trial after several days of hearings, despite claiming he suffers from Alzheimer's disease and is unable to assist his lawyers. He is free on $250,000 bail and is living in the locked dementia unit of an Orange County nursing home.

During the trial, alleged victims testified and reported settlement payments that never arrived and broken promises.

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 suffered serious injuries in an attack in the Dodger Stadium parking lot.

Girardi also represented plaintiffs in the toxic groundwater lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric Co., which was dramatized in the 2000 Oscar-winning Julia Roberts film “Erin Brockovich.”

Jayne filed for divorce from Girardi in 2020 after 21 years of marriage. After the separation, the couple put their Pasadena home up for sale for $13 million. Jayne was not charged in the case against her husband.

After Girardi was expelled from the California Bar, the bar said it had received 205 complaints against him over the course of his four-decade career, accusing him of embezzling settlement funds, abandoning clients or committing other serious violations of professional ethics.

Girardi Keese collapsed in late 2020 after Girardi was accused in a Chicago lawsuit of embezzling money intended for clients the firm represented in litigation over a plane crash in Indonesia. The lawsuit, brought by plaintiffs' law firm Edelson PC, has since been moved to Los Angeles.

Closing arguments in the criminal trial against Tom Girardi in DTLA are pending

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Closing arguments in the criminal trial against Tom Girardi in DTLA are pending

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