Erika Jayne's ongoing legal battle has taken a turn for the better.
Court documents obtained by E! News show that a California judge granted Erika's summary judgement motion on Aug. 29, ruling that the plaintiffs in a state case—Philip R. Sheldon and Robert P. Finn, who named Erika in a $5 million fraud lawsuit back in 2020—were unable to prove Erika had aided and abetted her ex-husband Tom Girardi's alleged crimes.
Citing Erika's deposition and the plaintiffs' own declaration that Erika never participated in any of their dealings with Tom, Judge Richard Fruin also ruled that the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star "had no actual knowledge" of Tom or his law firm, Girardi and Keese, allegedly misappropriating funds.
With that, Judge Fruin concluded his final ruling by stating, "The Court, therefore, grants summary judgement in favor of defendant Erika Girardi."
Erika's lawyer, Evan C. Borges, reacted to the news in a statement provided to E! on Aug. 31, beginning, "The ruling is critical because it is the first time that a Court of law has looked at ALL the supposed evidence against Erika, and the Court found in Erika's favor."
Borges went on to say that in spite of the opposing counsel compiling "every piece of gossip or other purported evidence or innuendo that they could find," Judge Fruin's ruling shows that there's "NO EVIDENCE of any knowledge on Erika's part of any wrongdoing by Tom Girardi or Girardi Keese, and NO EVIDENCE of Erika's participation in any wrongdoing" with regards to this case.
The way Borges sees it, "Erika has been exonerated."
And while the reality star still faces multiple aiding and abetting lawsuits, which accuse her of "participating in some sort of 'fraud,'" Borges added, he alleges that those will also come out in her favor as "they are contrary to the truth and based on no real evidence."
The statement concluded with Borges expressing his desire for the summary judgement to "get the same media attention" the allegations—which he dubbed "unfounded"—apparently received "when they were first made, and thereafter repeated maliciously on social media for no good reason."
Speaking for plaintiffs Sheldon and Finn, attorney Ronald Richards told E! that the ruling "was a single count of aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty" against Erika and her company, EJ Global LLC, and that they plan to appeal the ruling, which he said "will be reviewed by three judges without regard to the lower courts ruling."
"The court only granted the motion as to Erika Girardi and denied it as to David Lira, Tom Girardi's son in law," Richards said. "EJ Global LLC, that received $25,000,000.00 from Tom's firm is still a defendant and will stand trial. The bankruptcy trustee still has the broader and easier to prove claims. Both EJ's company and David Lira will be defendants at the trial and Erika Girardi has been ordered to appear personally for trial via a subpoena. When the other firm filed a lawsuit early on in this scandal we associated in. Erika's deposition was taken late in the case."
As for Judge Fruin's finding that Erika "had no actual knowledge" of Tom's alleged business dealings, Richards added, "There is a dispute over what constitutes actual knowledge. We contend it could be proven by willful blindness and actual knowledge can be inferred. The judge wanted an admission by Erika as to the specific TXI clients. This is a standard no one could meet absent an admission by Erika which she denies knowledge."
Richards went on to allege that Erika "still has much more damaging and easier to prove lawsuits facing her," and the latest development "is a minor ruling that has zero effect on her global exposure because the same exact claims are being brought against her in two different jurisdictions."
"The discrepancy between the two sides is that the judge wrongly focused on a duty we were not arguing was violated," Richards continued. "On appeal, we will show that Tom Girardi had a fiduciary duty to third parties who were expecting money from this Trust Account. Erika aided and abetted a breach of that fiduciary duty by receiving $25,000,00 to her solely owned company EJ Global LLC, which is still a defendant. We will also appeal the issue that actual knowledge can by shown by willful blindness in lieu by a direct admission. Erika did nothing to examine the source of the millions she received and blindly signed loans and tax documents to her detriment."
Erika has continually denied any and all wrongdoing she's been accused of since her legal issues began in late 2020 after she filed for divorce from Tom and they were subsequently named in a fraud lawsuit that December, accusing them of embezzling $2 million in settlement funds from plane crash victims. Erika has since been dismissed from that particular suit—a decision Borges praised while continuing to declare her innocence—but she still faces several other troubles including a $50 million racketeering lawsuit brought on by Chicago-based law firm Edelson PC.
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