Thomas Girardi Bio: Net Worth, Age, Wife, Sentence, Parents, Children, Height, Jail

Biography

Thomas Vincent Girardi, born on June 3, 1939, in Denver, Colorado, is a former American attorney and co-founder of the Los Angeles law firm Girardi & Keese.

Once a prominent figure in the legal world, he gained national recognition in 1970 as the first California lawyer to secure a medical malpractice award exceeding $1 million. Over the years, he handled high-profile cases, including the Pacific Gas & Electric lawsuit that inspired the 2000 film Erin Brockovich.

However, his illustrious career collapsed in the 2020s when he was disbarred in 2022 and later convicted of wire fraud in August 2024 for embezzling tens of millions from clients.

Previously married to reality TV star Erika Jayne from 1999 until their separation in 2020, Girardi now awaits sentencing in December 2024, with another fraud trial scheduled in Chicago for 2025.

American former attorney
Thomas Girardi
Wiki Facts & About Data
Real Name:	Thomas Vincent Girardi
Stage Name:	Thomas Girardi
Born:	3 June 1939 (age 85 years old)
Place of Birth:	Denver, Colorado, United States
Nationality:	American
Education:	Loyola High School, Loyola Marymount University, Loyola Law School, New York University
Height:	N/A
Parents:	Jerry Girardi, Angela Girardi
Siblings:	N/A
Spouse:	Erika Jayne (m. 2000), Kathy Risner (m. 1993–1998), Karen Weitzul (m. 1964–1983)
Girlfriend • Partner:	Not Dating
Children:	N/A
Occupation:	Attorney
Net Worth:	$30 million–$50 million (USD)

Early Life & Education

Thomas Vincent Girardi was born on June 3, 1939, in Denver, Colorado, USA. His ethnicity is generally identified as Caucasian, reflecting his American heritage.

He is known to be Catholic, a religious affiliation that likely influenced his upbringing and education, given his long association with Catholic institutions.

Girardi was born to Jerry Girardi and Angela Girardi. His father, Jerry, was a blue-collar worker and a United States Air Force veteran, embodying a hardworking ethos that characterized the family’s modest circumstances. In some records, his mother, Angela Girardi, also known as Renee Chahoy, raised Thomas alongside Jerry.

The family later relocated to California, where Girardi’s educational journey began to take shape. He attended Loyola High School, a Catholic school in Los Angeles, graduating in 1957. He pursued higher education at Loyola Marymount University, earning an undergraduate degree in 1961.

Girardi then enrolled at Loyola Law School, where he graduated with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) in 1964. During his time there, he served as an editor of the Loyola Law Review. To further his legal training, he earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from New York University in 1965, establishing a strong academic foundation for his later career as a prominent personal injury attorney in Los Angeles.

Career

Thomas Vincent Girardi built a distinguished career as an American attorney, rising from modest beginnings to become one of the nation’s most prominent trial lawyers. However, in his later years, he saw his legacy unravel due to legal and ethical scandals.

After earning a J.D. from Loyola Law School in 1964 and an LL.M. from New York University in 1965, he began practicing law in California. That same year, he co-founded Girardi & Keese with Robert Keese, establishing a Los Angeles-based firm specializing in personal injury, medical malpractice, and mass tort litigation.

Girardi quickly gained a reputation as a formidable litigator. In 1970, he made history as the first attorney in California to secure a medical malpractice award exceeding $1 million, a milestone that cemented his standing in the legal community. His firm became a powerhouse, taking on high-profile cases against major corporations.

One of his most significant victories came in the 1990s with the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) case in Hinkley, California, where he helped secure a $333 million settlement for residents affected by groundwater contamination. This case later inspired the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, further elevating Girardi’s public profile.

Throughout his career, Girardi was known for his aggressive courtroom style, charisma, and ability to secure massive settlements. His firm handled cases involving defective drugs, environmental disasters, and airline crashes, winning billions in settlements for clients.

Beyond the courtroom, he was a major figure in the legal industry, serving as president of the California Trial Lawyers Association (now Consumer Attorneys of California) from 1982 to 1983 and being inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame in 2002. His wealth and influence extended into Hollywood and politics, further enhanced by his 1999 marriage to reality TV star Erika Jayne.

However, his career came crashing down in the 2020s amid mounting allegations of financial misconduct. In 2020, clients accused him of misappropriating settlement funds, sparking lawsuits and federal investigations. One of the most high-profile cases involved the families of victims of the 2018 Lion Air Flight 610 crash, who alleged that Girardi withheld millions owed to them.

By December 2020, he and his firm had filed for bankruptcy, facing debts reportedly exceeding $500 million. Investigators later uncovered evidence that Girardi had embezzled tens of millions from clients, funding a lavish lifestyle that included private jets and his wife’s entertainment career. The California State Bar disbarred him in 2022.

Girardi’s legal downfall culminated in August 2024 when he was convicted of four counts of wire fraud in a federal court in Los Angeles for stealing over $15 million from clients. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December 2024 and faces an additional fraud trial in Chicago in 2025.

Personal Life

Thomas Vincent Girardi, born on June 3, 1939, is 85 years old.

Girardi has been married three times. His first marriage was to Karen Weitzul, whom he wed on August 29, 1964. Details about their relationship are scarce, but the marriage ended in divorce, reportedly in the 1980s. From this union, he has one known child, a daughter, though her name and personal details remain private, as Girardi has rarely spoken about her publicly.

His second marriage, to Kathy Riser in September 1993, also ended in divorce at an unspecified date, and no children were reported from the relationship.

Girardi’s most high-profile marriage was to Erika Jayne, a singer and reality television star best known for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The two met in the late 1990s while Jayne was working as a cocktail waitress at Chasen’s, a restaurant Girardi frequently visited.

They married in January 1999 at the Stow House in Santa Barbara, California, when Girardi was 59 and Jayne was 27, marking a 32-year age gap. Their marriage thrust Girardi into the entertainment spotlight, as he financially supported Jayne’s music and television career, which was later revealed to have been partly funded by misappropriated client funds.

The couple did not have children together, though Jayne has a son, Tommy Zizzo (Thomas Gage Zizzo), from her previous marriage to Thomas Zizzo. In November 2020, Jayne filed for divorce as Girardi’s legal troubles escalated. However, as of 2025, the divorce remains unresolved, complicated by his bankruptcy proceedings and fraud allegations.

Net Worth

Thomas Girardi’s net worth, once estimated to be in the tens of millions at the peak of his legal career, has become a subject of significant speculation and decline by April 2025.

As a prominent trial lawyer and co-founder of Girardi & Keese, he amassed considerable wealth through high-profile settlements, including the $333 million Pacific Gas & Electric case in the 1990s. Reports from the early 2000s suggested his net worth reached upwards of $30 million to $50 million, fueled by a lavish lifestyle that included private jets, a $15 million Pasadena mansion, and funding for his then-wife Erika Jayne’s entertainment career.

However, Girardi’s financial status collapsed following revelations of embezzlement and fraud. By 2020, when he and his firm filed for bankruptcy, debts reportedly exceeded $500 million, including $23 million owed to clients and millions more to lenders and law firms.

Investigations revealed he misappropriated tens of millions from client settlements, leading to his disbarment in 2022 and a wire fraud conviction in August 2024. As of 2025, his net worth is effectively negative, with assets seized or tied up in legal proceedings, leaving him a far cry from the wealthy legal titan he once was.