In a stunning move, disgraced former attorney Tom Girardi took the witness stand Thursday to testify in his defense, asserting that he never intentionally misled clients and that “every client got every penny that every client was supposed to get.”
Girardi, 85, was the final witness called by his lawyers to testify at his ongoing criminal trial.
A grand jury indicted Girardi on four counts of wire fraud, with prosecutors accusing him of swindling more than $15 million from his law firm’s clients between 2010 and 2020. His attorneys have long sought to portray Girardi as mentally incompetent and in the throes of progressive cognitive decline, but a federal judge this year deemed him fit to stand trial.
For the last two weeks, jurors in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom have heard emotional testimony from Girardi’s former clients, who recounted the trust they placed in him and their efforts to collect thousands, and in some cases, millions of dollars of the settlements he won for them.
Wearing a grey blazer, Girardi smiled as he shuffled toward the witness stand, with hands trembling. He answered questions for 45 minutes, first from Deputy Federal Public Defender Samuel Cross.
Girardi began by painting a rosy picture of the firm he owned and ran for more than 40 years, Girardi Keese.
“The firm was doing so well because of the wonderful people who worked there and still work there,” he said. Later, his lawyer asked if his law firm, which shuttered in late 2020 and was forced into bankruptcy, was still open.
“Is your law firm still open, Tom,” Cross asked.
“Yes,” Tom said.
“Tom, what’s my name,” Cross asked.
“I don’t know,” Tom replied. “Bad, mean, terrible, it’s one of those.”
Girardi noted that he worked more than 50 hours a week and took on big cases such as the suit against Pacific Gas & Electric featured in “Erin Brockovich.” He pointed out that Julia Roberts starred in the award-winning film.
But when Cross, his public…