Girardi Trustee Sues Litigation Funder Over Alleged Fee Fraud

The bankruptcy trustee for Girardi Keese is suing Joseph DiNardo and his law firm over their attempt to discharge a $7.5 million abetting fraud claim.

The lawsuit was lodged in DiNardo’s own bankruptcy, which was filed in 2023 after two litigation lenders reportedly associated with him avoided a suit accusing them of helping convicted ex-lawyer Thomas Girardi engage in fraud.

The fraud-aiding claim against DiNardo and his firm is debt that can’t be discharged via bankruptcy, the trustee said in a Monday complaint in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York.

Elissa D. Miller, the Chapter 7 trustee tasked with winding down the Girardi firm’s estate, filed the suit as part of her effort to resolve a slew of litigation and claw back funds related to the onetime legal titan’s theft of client money.

Miller opposed DiNardo’s attempt to discharge her claim in his bankruptcy, which includes $6.35 million in co-counsel fees that DiNardo and his firm allegedly received from a family’s personal injury suit, the complaint said.

DiNardo and his firm “aided and abetted Girardi’s criminal enterprise,” she said in the complaint.

The Ruigomez family sued a California gas company following a 2010 explosion that led to a fire which burned 90% one family member’s body. DiNardo and his firm were allegedly given half of what Girardi Keese received for representing them without their knowledge, the complaint said.

The DiNardo firm also didn’t bill any hours, the trustee said.

Attorneys representing DiNardo and his firm didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

DiNardo’s help allegedly provided Girardi Keese “the ability to continue prosecute plaintiff actions which resulted in Girardi stealing settlement funds for his own benefit or to pay other clients whose funds Girardi had previously stolen and or used for improper purposes,” the complaint said.

DiNardo in 2022 became entangled with Girardi Keese litigation stemming from families of people killed in a 2018 Lion Air plane crash. More than $2 million in settlement funds were misappropriated by Girardi and his firm.

DiNardo was named an “investigative target” in the Lion Air litigation. His bankruptcy paused litigation against him in the case.

Girardi was convicted on four counts of wire fraud in August in the US District Court for the Central District of California. His estranged wife Erika Girardi last month convinced the California Court of Appeals, Second District that she was unaware of the theft.

Girardi Keese’s former chief financial officer Christopher Kamon agreed to plead guilty in October to helping Girardi embezzle fund from clients and the firm itself. Kamon is in plea negotiations in Illinois for other pending charges.

Jenkins, Mulligan & Gabriel LLP and Gleichenhaus, Marchese & Weishaar PC represent the trustee. Lippes Mathias LLP represents DiNardo and his firm.

The case is In re DiNardo, Bankr. W.D.N.Y., No. 23-bk-10316, complaint 2/3/25.