Ana and Arturo Agaton, two former clients of Tom Girardi, have taken a stance against the California State Bar. The Agatons are accusing the lawyer regulation agency and its previous heads of maintaining a “incestuous relationship” with disgraced attorney Girardi, a connection which they argue enabled him to misappropriate millions of dollars from his victims.
The issue surfaced when the Agatons did not receive their fraction of a $31 million settlement from a lawsuit they and others filed against TXI Industries in 2015. The suit alleged that hexavalent chromium emissions from TXI’s Riverside cement plant had caused illnesses among nearby residents, including the untimely demise of the Agatons’ six-year-old son, Arturo Jr. More details on the TXI lawsuit can be found here.
The complaint encapsulates the deep-seated issues with the California State Bar’s protection of the public from derelict lawyers:
“Had the State Bar carried out its mission of protecting the public, this complaint, and many others like it, would not be necessary,” commented the complaint.
For full coverage on the class action against the California State Bar, make sure to visit the full story here.