Thomas Girardi (born June 3, 1939) is a former attorney and co-founder of the now defunct Los Angeles downtown law firm Girardi & Keese. In 2022, he was disqualified from the bar after being accused of defrauding customers.
Girardi graduated from Loyola High School (Los Angeles) in 1957. Graduated from New York University in 1965. In 1970, Girardi became the first attorney in California to receive an award of more than $1 million in a medical malpractice case. Girardi has handled significant cases against the former Lockheed Corporation (now Lockheed Martin Corporation), Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and seven major Hollywood movie studios.
In one notable case against Pacific Gas & Electric, the utility agreed to pay $460 million to 650 residents of the Hinckley Desert community in California. Local residents have blamed cancer and other illnesses on contaminated water leaking from gas stations. This case was the inspiration for the film Erin Brockovich (2000) starring Julia Roberts. “This particular case has completely changed the way people think about all the toxic substances they’re exposed to,” he told Law Journal’s lawyers. Girardi also served as a consultant on the film.
In 2003, he was honored to be inducted into the Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame by the California Bar Association. He is a board member and past president of the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a global organization open by invitation only to 500 trial lawyers, according to his website. Girardi was also the first trial attorney appointed to the California Judiciary Board, the decision-making body of state courts.
Girardi is known for his work in Democratic politics, contributing millions to campaigns, playing a role in fundraisers and advising governors on judge appointments.
In 2010, Girardi was among a group of attorneys seeking to enforce a $489 million default judgment in a U.S. court against Dole Food and Shell Chemicals allegedly filed by a Nicaraguan court over the effects of the pesticide DBCP on exposed workers. It is revoked. The U.S. court found that the translation of documents related to Nicaragua submitted by Girardi and others had serious flaws. Girardi and others were formally reprimanded, and her law firm was fined for violating its duty to disclose to the courts.
