Erika Jayne’s Divorce From Tom Girardi at Risk of Being Dismissed After 4 Years
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne’s never-ending divorce from Tom Girardi, who was sentenced to seven years in prison last month, is at risk of being thrown out of court, Us Weekly can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by Us, a hearing was held in the case on June 26 in Los Angeles Superior Court. The Bravo star’s lawyer was present but there was no appearance by a representative for Girardi. The judge set a hearing for August 1 for the parties to explain why no judgment has been entered.
Jayne filed for divorce from Girardi, a once-prominent L.A. attorney, in November 2020 after 21 years of marriage.
Back in April, one of Jayne’s lawyers Jim Wilkes spoke to The Sun about the pending divorce. He said, “I don’t think that the divorce will go anywhere. He’s not competent to defend it.”
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Girardi was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in March 2021. His family placed him under a conservatorship around the same time. Girardi was moved into a senior assisted living facility in August 2021.
“I don’t know that you could have a divorce in these circumstances,” Wilkes said. He claimed Jayne may have to wait until Girardi’s death to make it official.
Us reached out to Jayne’s divorce attorney for comment on their next steps.
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As Us previously reported, Jayne’s divorce came as Girardi was facing several lawsuits over alleged debts. His law firm was forced into involuntary bankruptcy. Court documents showed his firm owed tens of millions to creditors.
Various former clients accused him of winning them a large financial settlement but then failing to pay them in full.
Last month, Girardi was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison after being found guilty of wire fraud and embezzlement. Prosecutors claim that between 2010 to 2020 Girardi and associates ran the law firm like a Ponzi-scheme.
In court, the prosecutors said Girardi embezzled over $15 million over the time period.
The prosecutors claimed Girardi used his clients’ settlement proceeds to pay bills, including bills of Jayne’s company EJ Global.
Jayne was sued as part of Girardi’s bankruptcy. The trustee presiding over Girardi’s law firm’s bankruptcy demanded the RHOBH star return millions.
Jayne argued she had no reason to believe her husband was doing anything wrong. She asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.
As part of the case, Girardi’s lawyers claimed he was not competent and did not believe he should have to endure a trial. The judge was not deterred, and the trial started on August 5, 2024.
After his sentencing, Jayne revealed on her podcast that she found out the news while in London, where she is working.
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“And then 10 minutes before the second show, I get the news that Tom is being sent to prison … It just hurts. It reopens old healing wounds,” Jayne said. “And it is something that, you know, I had a sold-out crowd in a theater just for me, and I was so grateful. My happiest place in the whole world to be is on stage.”
