LOS ANGELES (KNX) — The State Bar of California recommended disbarment for well-known plaintiffs’ attorney Tom Girardi on Monday. Girardi, 82, has been charged with numerous violations of the State Bar Act as well as its Rules of Professional Conduct in relation to three separate matters.
The State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel filed a petition for disbarment on Nov. 10. Girardi has been on “inactive” status since March.
Girardi’s Beverly Hills firm, Girardi & Keese, was at the center of numerous allegations in 2020 that the one-time legal juggernaut misappropriated millions of dollars in settlement funds meant for clients and failed to pay back creditors.
In December of that year, a federal judge in CHicago froze Girardi’s assets, finding he had improperly siphoned off at least $2 million in settlement money due to the families of those killed in a plane crash in Indonesia.
Over the course of his career, the attorney has been known for winning massive settlements for his clients from corporate giants. In 1970, he was the first lawyer in California state history to win more than $1 million in awards in a medical malpractice case. He is especially known for his suit against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. over contaminated drinking water in a San Bernardino County desert town, which served as the basis for the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts.
Girardi is in the midst of a divorce with his equally if not more publicly visible wife — Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Erika Girardi, professionally known as “Erika Jayne.”
Girardi did not file a response to the notice of disciplinary charges filed by the Office of Chief Trial Counsel. His default was entered in August.
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