Major plaintiffs’ attorneys group strips Girardi of honors

In one of the most dramatic manifestations of the downfall of plaintiffs' lawyer Tom Girardi, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles voted to expel him from its membership and rescind awards it gave him over the years.

"The actions of Tom Girardi as disclosed by credible sources, and confirmed by court orders and judgments, are inconsistent with the morals, ethics and standards of CAALA," President Genie E. Harrison wrote in the email Monday to the association's members. "We are appalled by the victimization of clients to whom a fiduciary duty is owed, and our sympathies extend to those lawyers and vendors whose trust was violated."

Girardi is accused of stealing millions of dollars from air crash victims and from a victim of the San Bruno pipeline explosion. Creditors have forced him and his law firm into bankruptcy and federal prosecutors in Chicago are believed to be investigating him. The State Bar placed him under involuntary inactive status while it conducted an investigation.

Other organizations had already removed Girardi from their membership rolls and rescinded awards. (The Daily Journal did not honor Girardi on its list of 2020 Top 100 Lawyers in California in September for the first time since it began publishing the list more than 25 years ago.)

But none of those rebukes were as poignant as that of CAALA, the 72-year-old organization with more than 3,000 members that Girardi was closely aligned with. He hosted a glittering party that was the highlight of CAALA's annual meeting in Las Vegas every Labor Day.

Stuart Zanville, executive director of CAALA, said it was the first time in the association's history that a lawyer's awards were stripped.

In her email to members, Harrison said CAALA started proceedings in February to rescind Girardi's membership but that he resigned before the termination went into effect. She said the board voted overwhelmingly on March 18 to strip Girardi of his Hall of Fame title and revoke the 1995 Trial Lawyer of the Year and 2004 Ted Horn awards.

"CAALA condemns Mr. Girardi's actions as violations of the fundamental duties that attorneys owe to their clients, to the court, and to the profession," Harrison wrote. "CAALA affirms its mission statement and commitment to 'promote the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity among trial lawyers.' As the [Board of Governors'] actions demonstrate, CAALA will not condone or tolerate such assaults on these ideals, and will not continue to bestow honor upon a member it learns violated the very principles the organization fights to protect."