Thomas Girardi

Who is Thomas Girardi?

Tom Girardi, born 1939, is a founding partner of Girardi & Keese a downtown Los Angeles law firm that has earned a reputation as L.A. County's king of the class action lawsuit.

In 1970, Girardi became the first attorney in the state of California to win a $1 million-plus award for a medical malpractice case. Girardi has handled major cases against the former Lockheed Corp, Pacific Gas & Electric Co, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Hollywood's seven major movie studios.

In one of his more well known cases against Pacific Gas & Electric, the utility company agreed to pay $333 million to 650 residents of the desert community of Hinkley, California. The residents blamed incidents of cancer and other diseases on contaminated water leaked from a gas pumping station. This case was the inspiration for the film Erin Brockovich starring Julia Roberts.

In another high-profile matter, Girardi was among a group of lawyers who attempted to enforce in U.S. courts a $489 million default judgment entered by a court in Nicaragua, allegedly against Dole Food and Shell Chemical based on the effects of the pesticide, DBCP, upon exposed workers.