Thomas Girardi

Thomas Girardi was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. Girardi graduated from Loyola Law School and then continued his studies at New York University. He later moved to Los Angeles and went on to become a founder of Girardi & Keese alongside Robert Keese.

Girardi’s previous achievements include being the first trial lawyer to be appointed to the California Judicial Council.

Girardi was married to Karen Weitzul from 1964 to 1983. He was also briefly married to Kathy Risner in the 90s. The former attorney married Erika Jayne in January 2000.

After more than 20 years of marriage, Jayne announced that she filed for divorce in November 2020. The following month, Girardi was accused of embezzling settlement funds intended for the victims of families killed in the Lion Air Flight 610 in 2018.

In court documents obtained by Us Weekly, the class action firm Edelson PC claimed that the estranged couple’s divorce is “a sham attempt to fraudulently protect Tom and Erika’s money” and that they “are on the verge of financial collapse and locked in a downward spiral of mounting debts and dwindling funds.”

In March 2021, it was reported that Girardi had been placed under conservatorship after he was diagnosed with late-onset Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The Housewife and the Hustler, a documentary released in June 2021, detailed the allegations against Girardi and questioned his estranged wife’s involvement.

In August 2024, Girardi was found guilty of four counts of fraud following his weeks-long embezzlement trial.