Thomas Girardi was disbarred in 2022 after accusations of defrauding clients.
18 Facts About Thomas Girardi
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Thomas Girardi is separated from his third wife, the performer Erika Jayne, with whom he occasionally appeared on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in their Pasadena mansion.
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Thomas Girardi received his undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University in 1961, his JD degree from Loyola Law School in 1964, and an LL.
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In 1970, Thomas Girardi became the first attorney in the state of California to win a $1 million-plus award for a medical malpractice case.
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Thomas Girardi is thanked in the credits and served as an adviser to the filmmakers.
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In 2003, Thomas Girardi was inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame by the State Bar of California.
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Thomas Girardi was the first trial lawyer to be appointed to the California Judicial Council, the policymaking body of the state courts.
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In 2007, Thomas Girardi was among a team of lawyers who negotiated a $4.85 billion settlement on behalf of thousands of plaintiffs who complained of complications associated with Merck's pain medication Vioxx.
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Thomas Girardi was known for his work in Democratic party politics, donating millions of dollars to campaigns, playing a role in fundraising events, and giving advice to governors regarding judicial appointments.
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In March 2021, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles revoked its awards to Thomas Girardi, including the 1995 Trial Lawyer of the Year, and removed him from its hall of fame.
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In December 2020, a federal judge in Chicago froze Thomas Girardi's assets, ruling that he had "misappropriated at least $2 million in client funds that were due to the families of those killed" in the Boeing 737 MAX Lion Air Flight 610 crash in Indonesia.
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In March 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported that Thomas Girardi had been sued more than 100 times.
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Thomas Girardi was tried in August 2024, when a federal court jury determined that Thomas Girardi was guilty of wire fraud and embezzling tens of millions from his clients.
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Thomas Girardi married Kathy Risner in September 1993; she filed for divorce in January 1998.
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In January 2000,60-year-old Thomas Girardi married his third wife, 28-year-old singer and actress Erika Jayne, who later became known as a star of the reality-television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
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Thomas Girardi appeared in several episodes of the show alongside his wife.
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In November 2020, Erika Thomas Girardi announced the couple had separated and that she had filed for divorce.
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In February 2021, Thomas Girardi was placed in a temporary conservatorship due to short-term memory loss, and in March 2021, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.