The troubled Los Angeles attorney, Tom Girardi, suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and is unable to understand or participate in legal proceedings, according to a psychiatrist who examined him last month.
The doctor’s assessment was revealed on Wednesday in a Superior Court case by a lawyer for Girardi’s younger brother, who is in temporary custody of the famous 81-year-old lawyer.
Dr. Nathan Lavid, a clinical and forensic psychiatrist from Long Beach, met with Girardi on February 26 as part of the guardianship case initiated in January by his brother Robert. Lavid found “great damage” in short-term memory, logical reasoning and recognition of Girardi’s familiar objects and people, according to a sworn statement. The psychiatrist indicated that Girardi was experiencing delusions and “seriously disorganized thinking”.
Girardi has dominated civil law in California for decades, winning billions in trials for plaintiffs in cases of product liability, personal injury and toxic pollution. He is best known for his role in the case portrayed in “Erin Brockovich” and his marriage to singer Erika Jayne, a star of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”.
His venerable company, Girardi Keese, went bankrupt in December amid emerging evidence that Girardi had stolen or otherwise embezzled more than $ 13 million in settlements from a burned victim and survivors of victims of a plane crash in Indonesia. Creditors later forced him into bankruptcy and a federal judge referred him to a criminal investigation.
A criminal defense lawyer he hired said in December that Girardi would not be able to help in his defense, clarify about the missing money or understand his current dilemmas. The psychiatrist’s statement this week reinforced those claims.
Lavid, a consultant psychiatrist at the High Court, wrote that Girardi had “late onset” of Alzheimer’s and indicated that he was clinically unable to attend the procedures “in the foreseeable future”.
“Dementia impairs your ability to understand hearing,” wrote Lavid. “His emotional distress is directly related to his dementia and is compounded by his confusion.”
The request came a day after the California State Bar, the agency that regulates the state’s legal profession, determined that Girardi was not eligible to practice law after his license was declared inactive. The change appeared to be the result of guardianship and not any disciplinary action by the state bar.
A Times investigation found that Girardi and his company have been sued more than 100 times in the past four decades, with numerous allegations of legal malpractice and misappropriation of settlement funds, but have maintained an unblemished license on the state bar. .
Girardi’s brother was named temporary conservative after a hearing last month, and the Orange County dentist is seeking more permanent guardianship at a hearing next week. Nicholas Van Brunt, a lawyer representing Robert Girardi, said by email: “Obviously, this remains a painful time for Robert.”