Thomas V. Girardi

After nearly 50 years of practice, Girardi continues to be a towering figure among the nation’s plaintiff’s bar.

Name any product defect or toxic tort case and Girardi and his firm is likely to be in the center of it. He is heavily involved in ongoing litigation alleging Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based baby powder is linked to ovarian cancer.

“We’re involved in most of the major drug cases out there, which is very interesting because in almost every single case, the drug companies know of the terrible side effects that could happen, but to be able to sell their stuff they never tell anybody,” Girardi said. “So that occupies quite a bit of my time.”

Outside the courtroom, Girardi is a commanding presence in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., where lawmakers often seek his counsel.

With a Republican-led House and Senate pushing legislation to hamstring the plaintiffs bar, Girardi said he is spending more time in Washington, D.C.

“There’s an awful lot of legislation in the Congress to harm the people,” he said. “You know, all trial lawyers do is try to get compensation for people due to bad conduct from somebody else.”

“We are constantly under assault. There is legislation to force everything in arbitration.”

In addition to his practice, Girardi has spent years collecting original courtroom drawings and sketches from major trials. He has pieces featuring many celebrated trial lawyers from Clarence Darrow to Johnnie Cochran Jr. He recently donated 55 sketches to the Library of Congress, where is a trustee.

“They went crazy and they dedicated a whole area to it,” he said.

— Skylar Dubelko