State Bar files formal disciplinary charges against Tom Girardi

Weeks after deeming him unfit to practice law, the State Bar on Tuesday filed 14 disciplinary charges against famed plaintiffs attorney Thomas V. Girardi, accusing him of stealing millions of dollars in client funds.

The bar also placed a consumer warning on Girardi's online attorney profile, which is standard practice when the bar files disciplinary charges, a spokesperson said in an email. Among the charges are accusations that Girardi lied to and stole money from clients between 2018 and 2020 in three separate matters.

The notice cites a lawsuit in Illinois in which Girardi is accused of misappropriating $2 million owed to the families of passengers who died in a Boeing Co. jet crash in Indonesia. Despite owing the money, the balance in Girardi's client trust account was $239,000 in September. He is also accused of lying to his co-counsel in the case, Edelson PC, about the disbursement of the money.

Girardi is also charged with withholding money from a client he represented in another wrongful death lawsuit. Judy Selberg's husband died in a boat accident in Arizona and she hired Girardi to represent her and agreed to a contingency fee of 33% if the case settled, which it did for $500,000. Instead of paying out the approximately $330,000, Selberg was entitled to, Girardi sent her a check of $50,000.

Despite several requests from Selberg, Girardi failed to pay the money and she sued him last year. Selberg is still missing about $184,000 from the settlement, according to the State Bar.

Girardi is also accused of lying to clients saying that he could not pay out settlement funds of almost $129,000 in a case in the Southern District of West Virginia, because the court had not signed the order approving the disbursement of the funds. But the money was already placed in Girardi's client trust account. The clients are still missing $55,944, the notice stated.

The bar's action comes after several tumultuous events in the past months. Girardi has been assigned a temporary conservator and was enrolled as inactive by the bar earlier this month. A psychiatrist also stated in court filings that the attorney has Alzheimer's disease.
Both the bar and his former co-counsel, Edelson PC, have disputed this claim. When Girardi tried to voluntarily relinquish his right to practice law, the bar said that was not possible.

The bar objected to the conservatorship petition that Girardi's brother was granted in February, stating that the petition had been filed under "highly unusual circumstances" and would prevent the bar from proceeding with disciplinary charges against the famed attorney.

He also faces a host of lawsuits and claims in bankruptcy court, including from his former partner, Robert M. Keese.