“Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne‘s husband was hit with allegations of fraud days before she filed divorce papers.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Thomas Girardi and his law firm were sued by a widow named Judy Selberg. The lawsuit was filed at the beginning of the month. The plaintiff accuses the defendants of legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and conversion. She hired Thomas to represent her in a wrongful death lawsuit after her husband died during a boating incident.
In the suit, Judy said on April 21, 2018, her husband Paul was the victim of a boating accident at Lake Havasu in Arizona. The accident took his life. After her husband’s death, Judy hired Thomas’ firm to represent her in a wrongful death lawsuit she wanted to bring. The case was eventually settled for $500,000.
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She says Thomas originally told her she was entitled to $296,394.55 from the settlement. Judy says that was a lower amount than they agreed upon. She said it was lower because Thomas “inappropriately’ increased the attorney fee from 33.3% to 40%.
She claims to have only been paid $50,000 from the settlement. The plaintiff claims Thomas has refused to pay her the remaining money owed. Judy says he straight up stole her money and is suing for the entire unpaid balance. Thomas has yet to respond to the case in court.
The lawsuit was filed days before Erika filed a petition for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court. The two have been married since 1999 but share no children. They live in a fancy mansion in Pasadena but have been facing numerous alleged financial issues.
Erika has previously said the two do not have a prenuptial agreement. She claimed Thomas would have ripped it up even if they had one.
The lawsuit brought by the widow is the latest in a string of legal issues. Earlier this year, Thomas faced more allegations of fraud in a separate case filed against him.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the Law Offices of Robert P. Finn have filed a lawsuit against Thomas and his law firm Girardi & Keese. The suit accuses the defendants of fraud, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Back in August, a third lawsuit accusing Thomas of refusing to pay his home security bill was dismissed. The security company GS1 Group informed the court they were dismissing all claims against Erika’s husband. The battle may not be over completely because they filed the dismissal without prejudice, meaning they could refile at a later date.
Earlier this year, GS1 sued Thomas accusing him of refusing to pay his $53,000 bill. The suit said, “Defendant, without cause, stopped paying Plaintiff’s bill, and, on January 31, 2020, upon defendant’s breach of the agreement, Plaintiff ceased providing armed guard service. Defendant did not offer explanation for ceasing to pay as required by the terms of the agreement.”