Erika Girardi has quietly put a $25 million headache behind her in Los Angeles federal court, cutting a deal that ends a long‑running civil lawsuit tied to her estranged husband Tom Girardi’s now‑defunct law firm.
Attorneys told a judge at a final pretrial conference that the case had settled, short‑circuiting a jury trial that was set for later this month and closing out a legal fight that stretched roughly five years. The parties kept the terms of the agreement under wraps.
What the filings show
According to recent court filings, Girardi Keese covered at least $14 million in charges on an American Express account linked to Erika Jayne’s business between 2008 and 2020. In a pretrial brief, a lawyer for the plaintiff argued that Erika and an affiliated company "received the benefit of [Tom] Girardi’s massive fraudulent scheme."
In sworn depositions, Erika said she had "no knowledge" of her husband’s criminal conduct and told investigators, "Girardi Keese paid my Amex credit card bill every month." These details were reported by the Los Angeles Times.
How the case wrapped up
The parties notified the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on May 21 that they had reached a settlement and asked the judge to wipe all pending motions and hearing dates from the calendar. The court responded by urging both sides to file a formal dismissal request by May 26, a procedural step that was highlighted by Bloomberg Law.
Legal context and fallout
The lawsuit came from the bankruptcy trustee and targeted alleged fraudulent transfers, in a bid to claw back money that the Girardi Keese estate says should have gone to clients of the firm. Under federal bankruptcy law, a trustee may avoid and recover certain transfers under 11 U.S.C. § 548, which is summarized by the Legal Information Institute, in order to return value to creditors when payments were improper.
Tom Girardi was convicted of wire fraud and received an 87-month federal prison sentence, according to a Department of Justice press release, and the trustee’s civil case against Erika unfolded alongside the unwinding of the Girardi Keese bankruptcy estate.
What comes next
The court has set May 26 as the deadline for filing dismissal paperwork. Until that hits the docket, the money terms of the deal will remain confidential.
The agreement resolves one of the flashiest civil claims tied to the collapse of Girardi Keese, but it does not automatically shut down other efforts to chase money. Creditors and additional litigants in the bankruptcy case can still pursue their own claims depending on how any recovered funds are distributed and what, exactly, the forthcoming dismissal papers say. Bloomberg Law has noted the key procedural deadlines in the case.
