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Tom Girardi: The "Erin Brockovich" lawyer, his "Beverly Hills Housewife" wife, and the clients that he stole from


Gil Bang

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I don’t understand why so many lawyers fuck this up. You can’t take money from your IOLTA account. It’s not yours. When you get caught, you will be disbarred. It’s that simple. I understand the temptation but it’s really very black and white.


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5 minutes ago, Bob Lives! said:

I don’t understand why so many lawyers fuck this up. You can’t take money from your IOLTA account. It’s not yours. When you get caught, you will be disbarred. It’s that simple. I understand the temptation but it’s really very black and white.


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With various forms of addiction, most of them think, "eh, I'm just borrowing it for a minute, I'll put it back next week."

I did a stint with a little general practice firm that had a largely eat-what-you-kill compensation model.  We hired this guy, seemed like a good dude, but was candid about financial pressure from student loans and family life.  Not an addict, that we were aware of, but there may have been gambling or compulsive spending or something there.

Well, it turned out that he did fraudulent billing (for work not done) in order to increase his compensation.  He was discovered, terminated, and reported to the bar (he'd done it to such an extent that it was a real pain in the ass to sort out, catch up with, and refund client's money).  In the 10s of thousands, as I recall, so not huge, but Lordy a pain in the ass to sort out.

We all figured he'd at least get some form of suspension.  Nope.  I think the most he got was a fully probated suspension.

He went solo and was whacked a couple of more times for trust fund violations before resigning in lieu of discipline.

I generally agree that it's a disbarment/suspension offense and that's the usual outcome.  But I have stated a couple of times that I find bar discipline to be somewhat uneven, and this is always what I think of.

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6 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

It's hard to believe that a rich old guy who marries a hot bartender half his age at the golf course without a prenup makes bad decisions.

She was a cocktail waitress at a restaurant when they met. A classic love story 

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I find it interesting that he could get good lawyers to come work for him with no chance for equity in the firm.   
 
That's weird, is it not?

I think it’s incredibly common. That’s how it was at my last firm. I had the title “partner” but it was just a bullshit title. I guess it sounds more professional than assistant manager.


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21 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

I find it interesting that he could get good lawyers to come work for him with no chance for equity in the firm.   

 

That's weird, is it not?

That's not uncommon at all at Plaintiffs' personal injury firms.  They are great places for young lawyers to learn how to be trial lawyers - because unlike most other civil litigation these days, injury cases still go to trial (at least before the pandemic).  The appeal for a young lawyer is to get trained up on how to try cases, make some good money, then open your own shop or parlay the experience into a real partnership at a different firm.  

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On 12/24/2020 at 11:26 AM, Bob Lives! said:


I think it’s incredibly common. That’s how it was at my last firm. I had the title “partner” but it was just a bullshit title. I guess it sounds more professional than assistant manager.


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On 12/24/2020 at 1:57 PM, Stannis said:

That's not uncommon at all at Plaintiffs' personal injury firms.  They are great places for young lawyers to learn how to be trial lawyers - because unlike most other civil litigation these days, injury cases still go to trial (at least before the pandemic).  The appeal for a young lawyer is to get trained up on how to try cases, make some good money, then open your own shop or parlay the experience into a real partnership at a different firm.  

Yep, and not only PI firms.  In a lot of cases with such firms, the "senior partner" is an egomaniac control freak that isn't about to let any ownership interest go.

On the other hand, with firms that are primarily contingent fee, oftentimes the firm has to incur debt to make salaries and expenses between settlements and verdicts.  There's almost always a "buy-in" and liability that comes with an equity share in the firm, but with a smaller (they're all smaller) PI firm, that buy-in and liability could be quite substantial, as might be the remuneration.

Those that don't give equity usually compensate pretty well, without the various hassles of "partnership."

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  • 7 months later...

When my Dad was early in his private practice career after a few years working as counsel for a few banks and struggling ot get things going, Tom Girardi referred him a personal injury case.  Ended up winning a pretty major sum for the early 70's that financed us moving to a new house and him getting his practice really rolling.  

Tom Girardi is a notorious POS, but in my Dad's case, he was a life preserver that change his career, and life.  

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Pure greed. $1, 5 or 10 million ain't enough when there is 50, 100 or 200 million. Sounds like his law practice became a ponzi scheme. Use the proceeds from the latest case or loan to pay off a previous clients who were was waiting on their funds.

ignorant question but when there is a single plaintiff who receives the settlement/judgement funds, are the funds given directly to the plaintiff or does it always go through the attorney? I assume a class action goes through a central fund managed by the attorney or a trust.

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48 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Pure greed. $1, 5 or 10 million ain't enough when there is 50, 100 or 200 million. Sounds like his law practice became a ponzi scheme. Use the proceeds from the latest case or loan to pay off a previous clients who were was waiting on their funds.

ignorant question but when there is a single plaintiff who receives the settlement/judgement funds, are the funds given directly to the plaintiff or does it always go through the attorney? I assume a class action goes through a central fund managed by the attorney or a trust.

Goes to attorney in a single plaintiff case, who then recovers costs and fees.  In most cases, payouts should be quick.  Exceptions include if a minor is involved or a bunch of medical liens that have not resolved.

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43 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Goes to attorney in a single plaintiff case, who then recovers costs and fees.  In most cases, payouts should be quick.  Exceptions include if a minor is involved or a bunch of medical liens that have not resolved.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm sure that more than one attorney has been tempted to use those funds for other uses with the idea that they will make good on it quickly. I assume that is not only unethical but illegal.

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4 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

I’m prone to ranting about various attorneys I see in politics, asking why they haven’t been disbarred. 
 

My wife, who is an attorney, finally set me straight on it: Don’t touch the client, Don’t touch the money.

Those two things are the surest way to catch a disbarment or other disciplinary case.

 

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