A new owner vows to restore ‘honor and integrity’ to Girardi Keese building

LOS ANGELES -- Standing outside the once-revered home to Girardi Keese law firm, Gary Dordick said he wants to restore "honor and integrity" to the location after purchasing it for $7.35 million last week.
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As workers on a crane removed the words "Girardi Keese" from the front of the rust-colored building on Wilshire Boulevard on Friday, the Beverly Hills trial lawyer said he admired Tom Girardi before allegations emerged that he embezzled millions of dollars from clients to fund a lavish lifestyle for him and his wife, the entertainer known professionally as Erika Jayne

"At one time, I believe this building represented greatness in the legal profession," said Dordick, founder of the plaintiffs' firm Dordick Law Corporation. "For so many years, they led the way in fighting for victims' rights and I'm happy to carry on that tradition."

Girardi's fall has hurt the legal profession, Dordick said. "We all look worse for it. There's a greater level of distrust of all lawyers and plaintiff's lawyers that represent victims, and it's going to take us a long time, as a profession, to recover from it," he said.

Dordick, who said he considered Girardi a friend, said when he first visited the building in the days leading up to the purchase, he noticed Girardi's many awards accumulated during his illustrious career were still in the building. Dordick said he planned to buy the awards at auction and return them to Girardi.

However, after watching the documentary, "The Housewife and the Hustler," that aired on Hulu Monday, in which former clients told horror stories about Girardi stealing millions of dollars, Dordick had a change of heart, he said.

"Once I watched ... it really hit me how malicious, and how dishonest he was," Dordick said. "Now I'm not going to buy those awards for him, because I don't think he deserves them."

Dordick's newly owned building is three stories, 16,680 square feet, has 18 offices, and 10 parking spaces. It connects to a second building, 1126 Wilshire, which Dordick is in the process of purchasing. However, since the purchase has to be coordinated through a bankruptcy trustee and is at the center of litigation with millions of dollars of bank liens on it, it may take some time to finalize the sale, he said.

To view a photo gallery of the office space, click here.

Dordick is an accomplished trial lawyer himself with almost $100 million in verdicts and settlements over the last two years. With the purchase of the building, he plans to expand his firm, he said.

Profits from the sales of Girardi's assets will go into a bankruptcy fund to pay creditors and former clients who never received their settlement money, Dordick said.

"I know that a large portion of the sale proceeds are going to go to pay off the victims and I'm really happy I can help them in some small way," he continued.

Inside the offices, the barren walls with tacks still hanging in them gave the feeling an art heist had just occurred. Down the marble-floored hallway with a row of Roman columns on either side, was a dusty desk where Girardi used to sit. A bottle of Crown Royal whiskey and other brown liquors still sat at the edge of the desk next to a photo booth strip of Girardi and his wife smiling.

Downstairs, a half drank bottle of water sat on a desk in one of the abandoned offices as if the building was suddenly evacuated during a natural disaster. On the bottom floor is a 1,000-square-foot room with row after row of empty shelves where Girardi used to keep case files.

"He was old school," Dordick said. "He kept paper files instead of digital files."

Dordick said he faced heavy competition in purchasing the building last week and had to negotiate with multiple parties claiming ownership stakes as well as a bankruptcy trustee who controlled Girardi's portion of it. After painting it, installing technology, computer systems, and new furnishings, he plans to move in by July 1.

"We're just going to do an exorcism and move in," Dordick said with a chuckle. "After we take over this building, and upgrade it a little bit, hopefully people will once again come by this location, this building and think. 'That's a place where good people do good work for good clients."