The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne is headed to trial over $25 million that her estranged husband Tom Girardi’s now-defunct law firm allegedly spent on her, Us Weekly can report..
According to court documents obtained by Us, a federal court judge set the trial date for February 10, 2026.
The legal drama started months after Jayne’s then-husband Girardi, 86, filed for bankruptcy after being accused of owing millions to third parties.
Girardi was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for an alleged years-long scheme where he embezzled millions from his clients in June 2025. He began his sentence the following month.
As part of the bankruptcy, the court appointed a trustee to take over control of Girardi’s law firm’s finances and attempt to collect money to pay back Girardi’s victims. After reviewing the records, the trustee filed a lawsuit against Jayne, 54.
The lawsuit claimed Girardi’s law firm had used client money to pay personal bills, including over $25 million spent on Jayne’s company EJ Global, over a 12-year period. The trustee believes Jayne should pay the entire amount back and the money used to pay Girardi’s creditors and debts.
The firm allegedly paid EJ Global’s credit card bills, glam costs and various other expenses. The suit alleged, “Defendants received jewelry and other luxury items purchased using the Debtor’s funds.”
The lawsuit explained the trustee had “$25,592,261.26 in payments made by [Girardi’s firm] for charges made by [Jayne and her company].”
The trustee said, “The payments by [Girardi’s law firm] were exclusively for the benefit of [Jayne and her company]. The expenses consist largely of expenses to promote Erika personally. Moreover, the over $14,000,000 in American Express charges were made by Erika on a card issued to her. The other $11,000,000 or so in vendor payments were made for Defendant Erika’s benefit only.”
In the lawsuit, Jayne’s lawyer pointed out that at Girardi’s criminal trial, the government never claimed Jayne did anything wrong. “In addition, neither the government nor the defense, at any time during the trial, tried to call or called [Jayne] as a witness.”
Jayne has previously denied all allegations of wrongdoing. She argued she had no knowledge of her husband’s business and had no reason to believe he was not successful.
Jayne said Girardi’s law firm managed all of her finances Her lawyer argued, “[Jayne] at all times was and is an entertainer with a 12th-grade education. [Jayne] was never and is not an attorney, and she trusted that [the law firm], [Girardi], and the outside accountants, given their superior knowledge and expertise, prepared proper, lawful, and legitimate tax returns.”
The trustee scoffed at her defense. “Erika’s assertion of innocent spouse status is meritless. As [Girardi’s] spouse, she qualifies as an insider, and the Transfers made on her behalf constitute a recognized badge of fraud. This defense is further defeated by Erika’s own affirmative misconduct. Erika either signed or authorized every charge made to the relevant American Express accounts and approved all vendor payments, knowing that she had no ability to pay for the charges and invoices.”
Jayne’s lawyer, Evan Borges, tells Us, “In November 2020, Erika filed for divorce and separated from Tom Girardi, moving into a rental. Erika has been trying to build an independent life for herself since that time. There is no evidence – because it did not happen – that Erika, an entertainer who never worked at [Girardi’s law firm], knew about or participated in any of the misconduct of Tom Girardi or [his law firm] toward their legal clients. ”
“[Girardi’s law firm’s] bankruptcy trustee’s lawsuit against Erika for “$25 million” is based on events starting 17 years ago in 2008 that spanned a 12 year time period until 2020. It is undisputed that Erika never received even a penny from the transactions at issue,” Borges added. “In circumstances where Erika did not receive any of the money at issue and her biggest mistake was putting trust in her then-husband, the Trustee’s lawsuit amounts to senseless bullying and piling on.”
As Us first reported, the reality star’s divorce from Girardi has yet to be resolved. Jayne, who recently confirmed she has a new man in her life named John “Shrek” McPhee, is currently in production on season 15 of RHOBH. She previously documented Girardi’s legal issues on the Bravo show.
