Attorney Tom Girardi spent his career building up his reputation as a champion of his "little guy" clients against big corporate interests.

After all, he brought an iconic contamination case against Pacific Gas and Electric on behalf of a small California town that inspired the movie "Erin Brokovich."

But today Girardi and several of his legal colleagues were indicted on many counts of fraud, with allegations that Girardi had been stealing money from his clients for years.

Renato Mariotti was a former federal prosecutor who worked in the Justice Department's securities and commodities fraud division .... he's now an attorney in private practice and hosts the "It's Complicated" podcast.