Girardi Deemed Competent to Stand Trial in Criminal Fraud Case

Disbarred and indicted plaintiffs’ attorney Thomas Girardi is competent to assist in defending charges he defrauded clients, professionals, and others of millions of dollars, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

Judge Josephine L. Staton of the Central District of California announced her decision in a docket entry, stating there that her underlying order remains under seal pending the parties’ identification of those portions that should remain permanently so.

Prosecutors accused the one-time high-flying attorney of malingering in his bid to avoid trial. Girardi’s federal public defenders argued the former Girardi Keese principal was skilled at hiding his cognitive decline. He ...