The State Bar of California on Thursday released 40 years of disciplinary records for the now-disbarred attorney Thomas Girardi, admitting that its handling of those matters revealed “serious failures” in its system of discipline.
The agency said it opened a total of 205 disciplinary matters on Girardi over four decades, and that 120 of them involved alleged client trust account violations. At least 69 of those complaints were submitted on or after Dec. 18, 2020, when a petition was filed to force his Girardi Keese firm into bankruptcy, according to the bar’s announcement.
Charged by the State Bar with 14 counts of violating ethics rules and California law for stealing millions of dollars from his clients, Girardi in June was disbarred by the state’s top court, ordered to pay some of those clients more than $2 million and assessed $5 million in sanctions and costs. The man and his firm were forced into bankruptcy.
“There is no excuse being offered here; Girardi caused irreparable harm to hundreds of his clients, and the State Bar could have done more to protect the public,” Ruben Duran, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the State Bar, said in an open letter explaining the disclosures on Girardi. “We can never allow something like this to happen again.”
The report is the latest admission that the agency that oversees more than 250,000 California lawyers failed to protect the public. It follows the California Supreme Court last week approving release of the…
