Erika Jayne‘s husband, attorney Thomas Girardi, just scored a minor victory in his $15 million legal battle with the Law Finance Group.
According to a new report, a judge in Los Angeles has sided with Thomas and his law firm and sent his case to arbitration, which means that the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star’s partner will not have his private business dealings exposed to the public as the case continues.
On April 10, The Blast confirmed the news and explained that the legal battle will be moved to a private proceeding that will keep the dirty details of the case away from the public eye. As some may recall, Thomas filed documents requesting his case be sealed earlier this year.
Thomas and his law firm were sued by the Law Finance group months ago and accused of failing to pay back $15 million worth of loans that were initially taken out in 2015. According to their case against Thomas, the money loaned was “used to maintain Mr. Girardi’s lavish lifestyle and to keep his prominent law firm financially afloat.”
While Thomas and his firm reportedly agreed to a payment plan in August of last year that required him to make monthly payments, as well as a $1 million payment due by the end of October and a $5 million payment due by January 1, he allegedly breached the agreement.
In response to the lawsuit, Thomas released a statement to The Blast.
“The truth of the matter is this. I have not taken one penny from the law firm in the past three years,” his statement read. “I have devoted everything to assist in the cases that we have here. Further, the money that was borrowed, we agreed to repay in approximately two weeks before the lawsuit. It is slanderous that the money was for my ‘lifestyle’ … every penny went for costs in cases that the firm is handling.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season nine airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo TV.
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