A Los Angeles federal jury convicted disbarred California attorney Tom Girardi on four counts of wire fraud after US prosecutors accused him of taking $15 million in settlement funds from clients, authorities said.
Girardi, 85, whose pollution case against a California utility inspired the Oscar-winning film “Erin Brockovich,” was accused of defrauding his clients and stealing from settlement cash earned in personal injury cases.
“Tom Girardi built celebrity status and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a ‘Champion of Justice,’” US Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement.
“In reality, he was a Robin-Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy” in order to continue his “lavish, Hollywood lifestyle.”
The federal public defenders representing Girardi did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Girardi blamed the alleged fraud on Christopher Kamon, the former chief financial officer of their law firm Girardi Keese. Girardi’s lawyers have…