Erika Girardi’s lawyer, Chicago plaintiffs’ lawyer, trustee’s lawyer trade charges

A lawyer for Tom Girardi's estranged wife accused a Chicago plaintiffs' law firm of entering into an illegal fee-sharing agreement with her husband in litigation over a 2018 airplane crash in Indonesia.

Evan C. Borges made that allegation in papers filed in bankruptcy court Tuesday. Borges is opposing a request by Edelson PC in Chicago to lift a stay on a lawsuit Edelson filed accusing Tom Girardi and his now-defunct law firm of misappropriating millions of dollars in settlement funds meant for air crash victims.

"The evidence undisputedly shows that the Illinois litigation to collect attorneys' fees allegedly due, which Edelson seeks relief from stay to pursue, is based on an unethical, unenforceable and illegal fee-sharing agreement between Edelson and Girardi Keese ... , which will require that the Illinois litigation be dismissed," wrote Borges of Greenberg Gross LLP in Costa Mesa.

Edelson could face discipline by the State Bars of Illinois and California, Borges implied in the opposition papers.

The allegation and incendiary statements subsequently lobbed Wednesday by several of the parties in the Girardi bankruptcy may have been in part aimed at influencing public opinion on the eve of the TV season finale of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," reunion show. Erika Girardi is a cast member on the reality show and was expected to be questioned Wednesday night about $20 million Tom Girardi funneled from his law firm to a company that supported her show business career.

Jay Edelson, who wants to pursue Erika Girardi in federal court in Chicago even if he can't pursue her husband, said in an email the filing was just fodder for the TV show.

"Erika's response, we have learned, was carefully planned with the trustee's lawyers and came only after we explained that the bankruptcy process has turned into a reality TV circus, which seems aimed at protecting Erika, ensuring that insiders and the bankruptcy lawyers get all the money, and the clients are -- yet again -- holding the bag," Edelson wrote.

Ronald Richards, the trustee's lawyer mentioned by Edelson, and a ringleader in the online ecosystem that attends the "The Real Housewives" franchise, weighed in with his own statement that echoed Borges' allegation -- that Edelson never got the air crash litigants to sign off on Girardi's co-representation -- and essentially telling Edelson good luck getting any money from the bankruptcy process.

"The only way Edelson would be entitled to any attorneys' fees that went through the debtor's accounts would be if Edelson had a valid fee agreement AND they could show a clear tracing back to Boeing (Lion Air) settlement payment," Richards wrote. "Since the record at this time is missing both, Edelson's motion at this point is merely diverting Erika Girardi's limited resources and holding up a resolution with the trustee because of unknown future legal expenses."

Richards said Edelson can only pursue one accounting claim against Erika Girardi in his Chicago litigation. But Richards is already pursuing that claim in the Los Angeles bankruptcy, he said.

"There is no basis to drag her to Chicago for a nonmonetary claim. Apparently, Erika has also filed an opposition which exposes Edelson's lack of a code-compliant, written fee-sharing agreement signed by their former clients," Richards wrote.

The Girardi drama began to unfold late last year when Edelson accused Girardi and Girardi Keese in federal court in Illinois of misappropriating the funds. Creditors quickly forced the law firm and Girardi into bankruptcy in Los Angeles, and Erika Girardi filed for divorce from her husband. Richards was tasked with finding Erika Girardi's assets, which he has delightfully chronicled on social media, pointing out her clothes and accessories and speculating how much they might be worth.

In an email Wednesday, Borges followed up on his court filing by suggesting that Edelson "does not have clean hands."

"The hypocrisy of Mr. Edelson claiming to enforce virtue when it results that, based on the evidence cited in our opposition, he flagrantly violated ethical rules in his representation of the Lion Air plaintiffs, is disturbing," Borges wrote.