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The Real Housewives of [INSERT CITY]… this is a thing, right? I give a disproportionate share of my brain over to pop culture and I honestly don’t know any of the weird Bravo subculture. I actively prefer Guy’s Grocery Games to Top Chef if I’m trawling for cooking competitions. But, apparently we’re supposed to watch rich trophy wives fight on camera? Cool.
Anyway, Erika Jayne is one of these Real Housewives — at least until her divorce is finalized, at which point she becomes a Real House… person? — and she’s embroiled in a new embezzlement suit.
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Jayne’s soon-to-be-ex-husband Tom Girardi is a Hollywood personal injury attorney. If you slip and fall after placing your hands in cement at Grauman’s, Tom’s a guy you might call. As part of his business, he has access to a boatload of settlement checks intended for survivors of the victims of Lion Air Flight 610 — literal widows and orphans. Edelson PC is alleging that Girardi has been skimping on passing along those payments in order to get Erika the latest in whatever banal rich person shit she needs to keep up with the Kardashians.
As a result, and most egregiously, Tom has resorted to embezzling the proceeds of settlements that should have been directed to his clients—including, as the basis for this Complaint, the widows and orphans who lost loved ones in the tragic crash of Lion Air Flight 610—in order to continue funding his and Erika’s lavish Beverly Hills lifestyles.
The craziest part is that Tom and Erika’s divorce… may not be a real divorce?
While Erika publicly filed for divorce this month, on information and belief, that “divorce” is simply a sham attempt to fraudulently protect Tom’s and Erika’s money from those that seek to collect on debts owed by Tom and his law firm GK. This would not be the first attempt by Tom to hide and divert assets. Indeed, in a likely violation of the California Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (Cal. Civ. Code § 3439), Defendant Jayne’s company, Defendant EJ Global, has allegedly received tens of millions in “loans” directly from Defendant GK, of which Tom is the sole equity shareholder.
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And everyone in Hollywood says ex-wives COST money!
While Edelson is the sole plaintiff in the action, bringing the case in its capacity as Girardi’s local counsel in the Lion Air settlement — for which Edelson allegedly got stiffed — but the relief it seeks would help all the folks due payments from the settlement. According to the complaint, Edelson was offered a partial payment of its fees but the firm got suspicious and refused to cash the check until it received assurances that all of the clients involved in the matter got their settlement funds.
The pleading details a long and winding path of trying to get answers out of Girardi and his partners, ending in the decision to bring this suit after they learned of the divorce and — upon information and belief — concluded that the divorce was a sham designed to transfer assets to Jayne to shield them from collection.
There’s just a whole lot to unpack in this complaint — available on the next page — but this stood out.
And she bought Tom a $5,000 toilet as a gift.
It’s truly the gift that keeps on taking.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.