Update!

Erika Jayne's Attorneys Backtrack After Withdrawing Representation

Real Housewives star Erika Jayne's legal team appears to have changed their minds after formally stating they could no longer represent her. Get the details on the counsel's new filing.

By Cydney Contreras Jun 18, 2021 1:46 PMTags
Watch: Erika Jayne Believes Tom Girardi Was Unfaithful Before Their Split

UPDATE: Two days after Erika Jayne's legal team filed documents to cut ties with the reality star, it seems as though they've had a change of heart.

According to documents filed on June 17 and obtained by E! News, Erika's attorneys have formally withdrawn their motion to withdraw as counsel for the Bravo star amid her legal proceedings involving estranged husband Tom Girardi. However, no further statement has been made on the legal reconciliation. 

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Erika Jayne's attorneys have formally filed to withdraw their representation as new details of Tom Girardi's bankruptcy case emerge.

According to court documents obtained by E! News, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star's attorneys with Dinsmore & Shohl LLP filed paperwork on Tuesday, June 15 stating they wish to withdraw their representation.

"The relationship of trust and confidence that is essential to a properly functioning attorney-client relationship has broken down and, in the good faith assessment of counsel, the relationship is irreparable," the lawyers wrote. "Withdrawal is appropriate under such circumstances." 

The group wrote Erika was notified of their decision on Monday, adding that they advised her of "the potential consequences of not timely securing replacement counsel."

Erika's rep declined to comment when contacted by E! News.

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The group's filing coincides with the premiere of Hulu's ABC documentary The Housewife and The Hustler, which centers on Tom's legal practice and questions how much Erika knew of his alleged crimes before she filed for divorce in November 2020. Dinsmore & Shohl LLP's filing does not mention the documentary.

The documentary specifically highlights two cases in which Tom allegedly lied to multiple families about their victim settlement funds. 

In 2013, Tom represented the Ruigomez family when they sued Pacific Gas & Electric after their son Joe suffered near-fatal injuries because a gas line exploded. Tom helped them secure an unknown amount, but Kathy Ruigomez told ABC News Tom allegedly promised to invest their money and give Joe a monthly allowance. 

According to ABC News, Tom stopped paying the family in 2017. On Thursday, April 22, Reuters reported the family filed a lawsuit against Tom in bankruptcy court, alleging Tom failed to pay them the remainder of the $11 million settlement after they successfully took him to court last April.

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In a separate civil suit filed last December and obtained by E! News, Tom and others were accused of fraud and embezzling money from a Boeing 737 airplane crash settlement fund made to Illinois-based plaintiffs who had family members die in an accident.

Erika was named as a defendant in the complaint, because the plaintiff firm Edelson PC alleges Tom was motivated to embezzle the money "in order to continue funding his and Erika's lavish Beverly Hills lifestyles."

The lawsuit read, "By all accounts, Girardi keeps engaging in fraud and deception in order to support a never-ending spending spree by himself and Jayne."

Edelson PC further alleged Erika filed for divorce from Tom last November, because the couple anticipated the lawsuit and wanted to "fraudulently protect Tom and Erika's money from those that seek to collect on debts owed by Tom and his law firm GK."

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Last December, a source close to Erika told E! News the 49 year old filed for divorce because of "infidelity," claiming Tom had an affair with "more than one woman." E! News reached out to Tom for comment at the time, but did not hear back.

In a December hearing relating to the Boeing lawsuit, a judge ruled Tom was in contempt of court after his lawyer stated Tom does "not have the ability to pay" the $2 million owed to the Edelson plaintiff's because he is involved in a divorce proceeding and the law firm has substantial debts. At the time, the lawyer also requested an extension on the deadline for Tom's response so he could undergo a mental health evaluation.

It has since been determined that Tom has Alzheimer's disease and he's under a conservatorship. Regarding his finances, the 81-year-old lawyer is in involuntary bankruptcy.

Neither Tom nor Erika have publicly commented on the ongoing legal proceedings.

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

This article was originally published on Wed, Jun 16, 2021, 6:57 a.m.