Disgraced lawyer Tom Girardi deemed competent to stand trial

Disgraced attorney Tom Girardi is mentally fit to face trial on embezzlement charges despite his Alzheimer’s diagnosis, according to a court-appointed psychologist.

The former high-powered Los Angeles attorney, best known for appearing on the “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” with his estranged wife Erika Jayne, will face a federal judge on Aug. 3.

Neuropsychologist Dr. Diana Goldstein “has concluded her examination and opined, among other things, that defendant is competent to stand trial,” according to court documents viewed by City News Service.

Girardi, 83, who ran the now defunct law firm Girardi Keese, was indicted in February on five counts of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors allege the 83-year old lied to his clients and bilked them out of more than $15 million from 2010 to 2020.

Girardi Keese former financial chief officer, Christopher Kamon, 49, faces similar charges and both men face a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Authorities allege Girardi and Kamon used their clients’ settlement money to fund payroll, bankroll personal expenses and pay other clients’ settlements that they had already misappropriated.

“In doing so, they allegedly preyed on the very people who trusted and relied upon them the most— their clients,” said US Attorney Martin Estrada in February.

Girardi was disbarred last year after the State Bar of California received 205 complaints against the veteran attorney.

Girardi was part of the legal team that successfully sued Pacific Gas & Electric in 1993 for contaminating the groundwater in the small town of Hinkley, Calif. The case was the basis of the 2001 Oscar-winning film “Erin Brockovich.”

Girardi and Jayne were sued by Edelson PC, a Chicago-based class-action firm, on behalf of a number of Boeing plane crash victims for allegedly embezzling settlement funds meant to help the victims of Lion Air Flight 610.

Jayne — who denied the charges — was dismissed from that case in January 2022.

The reality TV star filed for divorce from Girardi in November 2020 after 21 years of marriage.The divorce case has been held up since the Girardi Keese law firm filed for bankruptcy.

Girardi’s brother, Robert, had been serving as the disgraced lawyer’s conservator after the former attorney underwent a mental assessment in February 2021. Dr. Nathan Lavid, a Long Beach forensic and clinical psychiatrist, wrote in a sworn affidavit that Girardi suffered from late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Girardi remains free on $250,000 bond.