Erika Dennis Lawsuit: $25M Settlement in Girardi Keese Bankruptcy

Erika Girardi, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star known as Erika Jayne, settled the $25 million lawsuit brought against her by the bankruptcy trustee for her ex-husband Tom Girardi’s former law firm on May 21, 2026, days before the case was set for trial in Los Angeles federal court.¹ The terms are confidential, the dollar amount was not disclosed, and Jayne did not admit wrongdoing.²

What the Trustee Accused Her Of

Girardi Keese, once one of California’s most prominent plaintiffs’ firms, collapsed into involuntary bankruptcy in late 2020 after Tom Girardi was accused of stealing settlement money from his own clients. More than 680 claims totaling over $495 million were filed against the estate. In 2021, bankruptcy trustee Elissa D. Miller sued Erika Jayne, alleging that she and her companies had received more than $25 million in firm funds that were not legitimate business expenses.³

The trustee’s filing broke the alleged spending into two buckets. About $14 million was charged to Jayne’s American Express account and paid directly by Girardi Keese between 2008 and 2020. Another $11 million or so went to shopping vendors. According to the trustee, the money paid for Jayne’s music career, recording costs, tours, merchandise, a personal glam squad, and assistants.⁴ A pretrial brief from attorney Larry W. Gabriel argued that Jayne and an associated company “received the benefit of [Tom] Girardi’s massive fraudulent scheme.”¹

Miller argued Jayne signed tax returns and credit card receipts and was well aware of what was being spent. The filing called her claimed ignorance “feigned willful blindness” and an “ostrich approach” that would “do absolutely nothing to limit her liability.”⁴

Jayne filed for divorce from Tom in November 2020, just as the embezzlement allegations became public. The timing drew scrutiny throughout the case.

How Erika Jayne Defended Herself

Jayne denied wrongdoing from the start. Her attorney, Evan Borges, said she never received payments directly from Girardi Keese and bore no legal liability for the firm’s conduct. He accused the trustee’s team of “jumping to conclusions without a full investigation” and of “bullying and blaming Erika for actions taken by Girardi Keese for which Erika does not have legal liability.”⁴

In depositions, Jayne testified she had no idea where the money came from. “I did not know how much I spent per month or per year,” she said. She acknowledged that Girardi Keese paid her credit card bills every month but maintained she never questioned the arrangement. She also testified that after Secret Service agents advised her to review her charges, she disputed suspicious ones and received a refund of more than half a million dollars to her personal account.¹

Jayne has never been criminally charged in connection with the fraud.³

What the Settlement Actually Says

The deal was announced during what was supposed to be a final pretrial conference before Judge Anne Hwang on May 21, 2026. Attorneys told the judge the case had been resolved, all pending motions and hearings were vacated, and a formal dismissal request was ordered to be filed by May 26.³ According to a court transcript, the parties asked that the case be dismissed “without prejudice.”⁵

Three things about the resolution matter for anyone tracking the case:

The settlement amount was not disclosed, and the full terms remain confidential.
The agreement contains no admission of wrongdoing by Jayne.²
The trustee continues to pursue claims against other defendants in the broader Girardi Keese bankruptcy.¹

Jayne addressed the uncertainty during the Season 15 reunion of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, days before the deal was struck. “You can file for bankruptcy, or you can fight it out in court. You can go to trial, you can cut a deal, you can die in the streets. I have no idea,” she told the cast.²

The Other Lawsuits Against Her

The trustee’s suit was the largest civil action Jayne faced, but not the only one. The May 2026 settlement resolves that case; the others were disposed of earlier.

Edelson PC racketeering suit. The Chicago firm that first exposed the Lion Air settlement embezzlement also sued Jayne and Tom Girardi, accusing them of misappropriating crash victims’ funds. Jayne was initially dismissed from the Illinois federal case. Edelson’s founder, Jay Edelson, said in January 2022 that the suit would be refiled in California, calling reports of a full dismissal “inaccurate.”⁶

Sheldon and Finn state fraud suit. Plaintiffs Philip Sheldon and Robert Finn brought a $5 million state fraud lawsuit alleging Jayne aided and abetted Tom Girardi’s misappropriation of attorney fees. In August 2022, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Fruin granted summary judgment for Jayne, ruling she “had no actual knowledge” of the misappropriation and that the plaintiffs failed to prove she aided and abetted the alleged crimes.⁷ The same judge ruled in favor of her company, EJ Global LLC, and a California appeals court affirmed that ruling in August 2025.⁸

The diamond earrings. A separate bankruptcy fight focused on a pair of seven-carat diamond stud earrings valued at $750,000, which the trustee said were bought with money from a restricted client trust account. A bankruptcy judge ordered Jayne to surrender them in June 2022, and they were later auctioned for $250,000.⁹ A later ruling found the trustee had not shown sufficient evidence the earrings were estate property, though the decision was “without prejudice,” leaving room to try again.¹⁰

Where Tom Girardi and the Firm Stand

The civil case against Jayne moved alongside the criminal prosecution of her ex-husband. On August 27, 2024, a federal jury in Los Angeles found Tom Girardi guilty on four counts of wire fraud after a 13-day trial. Federal prosecutors established that between 2010 and 2020 he siphoned at least $15 million from client trust accounts at Girardi Keese.¹¹

On June 3, 2025, U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton sentenced him to seven years and three months in federal prison and ordered more than $2.3 million in restitution and fines, plus nearly $3.8 million in a separate forfeiture judgment. He surrendered to begin his sentence on July 17, 2025.¹² Separate federal fraud charges in Chicago tied to the Lion Air funds were dismissed in May 2025 after the Los Angeles conviction.¹³

Others tied to the firm were charged too. Former chief financial officer Christopher Kamon pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced on April 11, 2025, to 10 years in prison and $8.9 million in restitution.¹⁴ David Lira, a former Girardi Keese attorney and Tom Girardi’s son-in-law, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to criminal contempt for his role in failing to distribute $7.5 million in Lion Air settlement funds to victims’ families despite knowing Girardi had taken the money.¹⁵ Three other former firm lawyers received target letters from federal prosecutors during the 2024 trial, though none had been publicly charged as of mid-2025.¹⁶

For Erika Jayne, the May 2026 settlement closes the largest civil claim tied to the firm’s collapse. The bankruptcy itself continues.

1
Los Angeles Times. Housewives Star Erika Girardi Settles $25-Million Civil Lawsuit
2
USA Today. Erika Jayne Girardi Lawsuit Settlement
3
People. Erika Girardi Settles $25 Million Lawsuit Before Trial
4
American Bankruptcy Institute. Tom Girardi’s Bankruptcy Trustee Sues Erika Jayne for $25 Million
5
Page Six. RHOBH Star Erika Jayne’s $25M Legal Nightmare Takes Shocking Turn Days Before Trial
6
Entertainment Weekly. Erika Jayne Embezzlement Fraud Lawsuit Refiled in California
7
E! Online. Erika Jayne Scores a Legal Win as Judge Rules She Wasn’t Aware of Tom Girardi’s Alleged Crimes
8
Metropolitan News-Enterprise. Court of Appeal Affirms Judgment for EJ Global LLC
9
Law and Crime. Erika Jayne Asks Federal Judge for Her Diamond Earrings Back
10
Page Six. Why Erika Jayne Is Not Getting Earrings Back Yet Despite Appeal
11
U.S. Department of Justice. Disbarred Personal Injury Lawyer Tom Girardi Found Guilty of Defrauding Clients
12
NBC Los Angeles. Tom Girardi Sentenced to Over 7 Years in Federal Prison
13
Reuters. Charges Dropped Against Tom Girardi in Chicago
14
Los Angeles Times. CFO for Girardi’s Law Firm Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Defrauding Clients
15
U.S. Department of Justice. California Attorney Guilty of Federal Contempt Charge
16
Los Angeles Times. Tom Girardi Lawyers Warned of Criminal Charges During Testimony