One of California's most powerful lawyers, Tom Girardi, was sentenced Tuesday to 87 months in federal prison -- a stunning downfall for the disbarred attorney who built his name fighting for the injured but spent the twilight of his career stealing from them.

In a statement, California Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Tom Umberg said: “Justice for Tom Girardi’s victims was finally served today.  Unfortunately, Mr. Girardi’s seven-year sentence won’t relieve the pain or restore the money or undue stress suffered by the thousands of people that he preyed upon.” In the wake of the Girardi scandal, Umberg, D-Santa Ana, led the charge for ethics reform at the State Bar by writing measures such as the attorney misconduct reporting rule and bills that increased oversight on arbitration and the bar’s discipline system. 

“This entire case has been a hard-learned lesson for all of us in the profession,” Umberg’s statement continued.  “The lack of oversight, and failure to discipline Tom Girardi decades ago, allowed him and his co-conspirators to victimize far too many Californians.  This debacle has sounded the clarion call to reform attorney discipline, and I hope our efforts over the last few years will protect Californians from unscrupulous attorneys going forward.”

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