Girardi Defense Looks to Take the Hollywood Drama Out of Saga

Thomas V. Girardi was introduced to a Los Angeles jury by prosecutors as a celebrity-turned-villain who worsened the pain of clients he promised to champion. His lawyers argued that the real story is not a Hollywood movie.

The dueling narratives were presented during opening arguments Tuesday to a Los Angeles jury screened for their knowledge of Girardi’s own celebrity, as well as that of his estranged wife, reality TV star Erika Jayne.

“You need to look at this more like a documentary,” Deputy Federal Public Defender Sam Cross said. Girardi’s tale is complicated by the context of the now-shuttered Girardi Keese law firm, his mental decline, and the theft of millions of dollars from his former CFO Christopher Kamon, Cross said.

The defense’s strategy as outlined Tuesday is to make Girardi’s story — one that’s been portrayed in actual documentaries, as well as discussed on reality TV — not only nuanced, but complicated and potentially boring.

“It is going to get technical,” Cross said, devoting at least 10 minutes of his opening statement to describing financial documents and warning the jury of an inundation of “boring detail” on how Kamon stole from the firm. “That is part of the point.”

The jury of seven men and five women saw in the US District Court for the Central District of California courtroom a diminished Girardi, sitting with his eyebrows lowered and his forehead creased. He wore a gray suit jacket, khaki pants, and white sneakers — no longer in the slippers he wore to his competency hearing last year.

But the prosecution sought to remind the jurors of the celebrity attorney he once was — one they say used his notoriety to steal from clients.

Assistant US Attorney Scott Paetty introduced Girardi to jurors through the story of Girardi’s former client Joe Ruigomez, whose home exploded around him in September 2010 while he was watching football.

Girardi visited Ruigomez as he fought for his life in a coma, touted his reputation as a champion attorney and his picture on the cover of a magazine to win his mother’s trust—and then stole millions of dollars from him, Paetty said.

Girardi treated client trust accounts “like a personal piggy bank,” Paetty said. The now-bankrupt and disbarred lawyer lied to families like the Ruigomezes about why the money was being held up when, in fact, he was using it to settle his debts, finance a luxurious lifestyle, and deliver late payments to prior clients.

“Ultimately, the weight of this fraud was too much, and his firm collapsed,” Paetty said.

Girardi’s lawyers said the firm fell apart because Kamon stole millions of dollars from it over the course of a decade, taking advantage of Girardi’s trust and Kamon’s position as head of the firm’s financial operations.

It was “death by a thousand cuts,” Cross said.

Girardi is charged with four counts of wire fraud for allegedly stealing $15 million in settlement funds that were supposed to go to his clients in personal injury lawsuits over the past decade. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said in a July trial memo that Girardi tried to lull victims by falsely saying he couldn’t make settlement payments until he took certain steps, such as receiving a judge’s approval or settling a debt.

Girardi also racked up more than 200 misconduct complaints before the State Bar of California over four decades, but avoided disciplinary action through close personal relationships with its officials.

Aside from this trial, Girardi faces additional client fraud charges in Illinois federal court and he faces numerous civil lawsuits from former clients. His firm, Girardi Keese, was forced into bankruptcy in 2020.

The case is USA v. Girardi, C.D. Cal., No. 2:23-cr-00047, 8/6/24.