In a stunning move, disgraced former attorney Tom Girardi took the stand Thursday in his defense, saying he never intentionally misled his clients and that “every client received every penny that every client was supposed to receive.”
Girardi, 85, was the last witness called by his lawyers to testify in his ongoing criminal trial.
A grand jury indicted Girardi on four counts of wire fraud, accusing prosecutors of defrauding his law firm’s clients of more than $15 million between 2010 and 2020. His lawyers have long sought to portray Girardi as mentally incompetent and suffering from progressive cognitive decline, but a federal judge this year found him competent to stand trial.
Over the past two weeks, jurors in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom have heard emotional testimony from Girardi’s former clients, who recounted the trust they placed in him and their efforts to collect thousands, and in some cases millions, of dollars in settlements he obtained for them.
Wearing a gray blazer, Girardi smiled as he walked to the witness stand, his hands shaking. He answered questions for 45 minutes, starting with Assistant Federal Public Defender Samuel Cross.
Girardi began by painting a rosy picture of the company he owned and ran for more than 40 years, Girardi Keese.
“The firm was doing so well because of the great people who worked there and still work there,” he said. Later, his lawyer asked him if his firm, which closed in late 2020 and was forced into bankruptcy, was still open.
“Is your law office still open, Tom?” Cross asked.
“Yes,” said Tom.
“Tom, what’s my name?” Cross asked.
“I don’t know,” Tom answered. “Bad, mean, terrible, it’s one of those cases.”
Girardi noted that he works more than 50 hours a week and takes on major cases like the lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric featured in “Erin Brockovich.” He noted that Julia Roberts stars in the award-winning film.
But when Cross, his court-appointed attorney, asked him about specific cases in which he is accused of stealing his clients’ settlement funds, Girardi downplayed his role and denied any wrongdoing.
Asked about Joseph Ruigomez, who won a settlement of more than $50 million for burns suffered in the San Bruno gas explosion, Girardi acknowledged working on the case but denied embezzling funds.
For other victims who have testified during the ongoing trial — such as Judy Selberg, who never received the full settlement in her husband’s death in a boating accident — Girardi said he had no idea which lawyers at his firm were handling each case.
Girardi said he entered the legal profession with the goal of “helping people who have been wronged.”
“It was wonderful. It’s a wonderful job,” he said on the witness stand.
He also portrayed himself as a selfless boss who put his staff first, repeatedly telling the jury that he never took a salary.
“I wanted more and more [of] “The money should go to the great people who worked on it,” he said.
As for the allegations that Girardi stole from clients, he blamed his longtime CFO, Chris Kamon. (Kamon is also charged with wire fraud in connection with the theft of client money, as well as a separate case in which he is accused of embezzling company funds to finance the purchase of homes and a $20,000 monthly payment to his girlfriend.)
Girardi said Kamon “was smart enough to steal millions of dollars.”
Cross asked what Girardi would have done if he had known about the alleged embezzlement earlier. “I would have gone crazy. I would have had him charged. I had no idea,” Girardi said.
But the tone grew tense as Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Moghaddas began his cross-examination of Girardi.
Moghaddas asked Girardi how he felt.
“It’s up to you,” Girardi replied. “You have to be nice.”
The prosecutor asked Girardi why he told the Ruigomez family their settlement was $5 million when it was 10 times that, $53 million.
“I wouldn’t have said that,” Girardi insisted, adding that “there’s no way in the world” he would lie to a client.
“I never intentionally said anything bad to anyone,” he added.
Pressed by the prosecutor, Girardi claimed that Ruigomez and another client had drug problems and suggested he was acting in their best interests by refusing to pay them the settlement funds.
Girardi said Ruigomez’s mother told him, “You can’t give him a lot of money. He’s going to kill himself.”
“I remember, I declare under penalty of perjury,” Girardi continued.
When the prosecutor dismissed this as a “story” told by Girardi, he was defiant: “It’s not a story, it’s the truth.”
Girardi was determined that his company would pay the families the money the day the settlement funds arrived “because this money is important.”
“I never took a salary as a lawyer. I wasn’t going to say ‘go steal money.’ I wouldn’t have thought of it,” he said.
When Moghaddas asked Girardi if he had purchased jewelry for his estranged wife, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Girardi, he insisted that the jewelry did not come from clients’ funds.
“Every customer got every penny they were supposed to get,” he testified. “Every customer, and I swear to you, got every penny they were supposed to get.”
Toward the end of his cross-examination, Moghaddas explained how Girardi made a career — and a fortune — by persuading people to see his (or his clients’) point of view.
“I don’t know, we’ll find out,” Girardi said, looking at the jury. Moghaddas asked him what he meant by that.
“I was looking at the jury,” Girardi replied, before adding: “I don’t want to persuade them to believe me, I want them to believe me.”
