Girardi Client Turmoil Came as Firm Spent $70 Million From Trust

More than $70 million were transferred from the Girardi Keese firm’s client trust accounts to its operating account over the course of ten years, a former firm accounting employee testified Monday.

The company used that operating account to pay for six-figure Christmas parties at an exclusive social club where singer LeAnn Rimes had a “yearly standing gig;" host Super Bowl celebrations where attorneys received jerseys as party favors; and pay for Girardi’s two separate golf country club memberships, and his trips on private jets, said Norina Rouillard, who worked in the accounting department for nearly two decades.

One attorney even charged their personal property taxes on the company American Express card, she said.

Rouillard’s testimony about the excesses at Girardi Keese in the firm’s heyday presented the jury with a stark contrast on day four of Girardi’s criminal fraud trial , coming only hours after they heard from Josefina Hernandez, a former client who endured financial turmoil as she waited for settlement funds related to her pelvic mesh lawsuit.

Hernandez said her case was passed between attorneys and stalled for years as the firm fed her excuses for not sending her the roughly $60,000 settlement payment.

“It’s difficult to summarize the heartache I’ve endured as your client,” Hernandez said in a September 2020 email to Girardi, which was shown to the jury Monday morning. “I’m unable to speak with you for fear of breaking down in tears.”

Name On The Door

Girardi’s defense team attempted to distance Girardi from the stalled payments in Hernandez’s cross-examination, pointing to emails between her and attorneys on which Girardi wasn’t copied as a recipient.

“When I write an email to an attorney in Mr. Girardi’s firm, I assume that he is aware,” Hernandez responded, adding, “His name is on the door.”

The defense has indicated that it plans to cast blame for Girardi’s alleged theft of client settlement funds upon firm CFO Christopher Kamon, who is charged with fraud for allegedly stealing from both client accounts and the firm’s operating fund.

Girardi used to call Kamon “my guy in accounting,” Rouillard testified. Girardi determined which clients were paid from trust accounts and when, she said. And Rouillard recalled never seeing Kamon tell Girardi not to pay a client.

Rouillard joined the firm in 2003, when Brandi Brethour was the head of the accounting department.

Judge Josephine L. Staton on Aug. 5 ordered Brethour, who left the firm in 2004, to testify in Girardi’s trial, granting her for immunity from criminal charges associated with information divulged in her testimony.

Staton on Monday said she learned that one juror knows Hernandez but didn’t dismiss the juror from the case. The juror didn’t recognize the witness’ name or face, but realized upon seeing Hernandez’s email address in evidence that their children played sports together.

Erika Jayne

Girardi Keese paid more than $20 million to cover expenses from EJ Global LLC, the entertainment company of Girardi’s estranged wife Erika Jayne, Rouillard confirmed on Monday. The highest spending happened between 2010 and 2012, when the firm covered more than $10 million in expenses.

No money went from Girardi Keese to EJ Global, its bank accounts, or Erika Jayne, her attorney Evan Borges said in a statement to Bloomberg Law before Girardi’s trial began. Vendors and creditors of the entertainment company sent their bills directly to Girardi Keese, and the payments were coded as alleged EJ Global expenses, Borges said.

Jayne, a singer known for her presence on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” had a Las Vegas residency in 2023.

The case is USA v. Girardi, C.D. Cal., No. 2:23-cr-00047, 8/12/24.