Erika Girardi’s legal team has officially responded to a previous motion that accused The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star of refusing to hand over “key documents” in the bankruptcy case involving her estranged husband, Tom Girardi, and his law firm, Girardi & Keese.
According to court documents, Erika’s attorneys state that she “has been and remains willing to cooperate fully with the Trustee’s investigation in this bankruptcy of debtor Girardi & Keese.”
In their filing, her legal team not only disputes claims that she has been uncooperative but also asks the court to reconsider its decision to appoint attorney Ronald Richards as special counsel to the trustee. They allege that Richards has made “false and inflammatory” remarks about Erika on social media.
The motion further argues that Erika “is not a media fiction. She is a real person with rights, including the right to be treated fairly in these proceedings based on actual evidence and the law.”
Her attorneys claim that Richards has engaged in “vicious, conclusory, and speculative public vilification – all without evidence, which even if it existed, should and must be presented to and adjudicated by this Court.”
In response, Richards told that the motion is a “Hollywood attempt to create a smoke screen to slow down our work,” and argued that his posts were protected under free speech.
“Had there been any restrictions by the Court on free speech, they would have been adhered to, as all court orders are by our office,” Richards said in a statement. He added that the court previously denied Erika’s request for a gag order and affirmed during a recent hearing that he “has a right to express his views.”
“We are representing the Trustee on a limited basis relating to Erika Jayne,” he continued. “We only need to zealously pursue our client’s litigation objectives, which is to find the money and recover it.
Attacking the Trustee’s choice of counsel who is doing an effective job and working hard is a poorly designed strategy. The real issue is the large receivables to Erika Jayne and the money she is refusing to release or return, period.”
The new motion also includes screenshots of Richards’ social media activity, including posts where he allegedly made disparaging remarks about Erika and Tom. In one post, he wrote that Tom “is basically legally dead.”
In a YouTube video, Richards further commented that he doesn’t “think [Erika’s] personality is consistent with compliance in a court setting.”
According to Erika’s lawyers, Richards “has continued to harass Ms. Girardi publicly through extra-judicial statements, including social media,” and that “this new evidence should be considered and the Order granting Mr. Richards’s approval to act as special litigation should be vacated.”
They added, “Mr. Richards’s thinly veiled attempt to shield himself from the consequences of his improper conduct by framing some of his comments as his ‘opinion’ is irrelevant.
Mr. Richards’s public statements and speculation about this matter on Twitter are improper for any attorney, especially one appointed as special litigation counsel before this Court, and violates the ethical rules, yet it is taken as fact by his 16,000+ ‘followers’ on social media.”
The bankruptcy case originated after Tom Girardi and his law firm were accused of embezzling settlement funds from several families who lost loved ones in a 2018 Boeing plane crash. Tom was later sued by his business partners, which led to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in December, one month after Erika filed for divorce.
Amid the bankruptcy and multiple lawsuits, Erika and Tom have also faced accusations that their divorce was a strategic move to shield their assets. Tom has not responded to any of the lawsuits in court.