Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi's hippocampus is smaller than 98% of population, neurologist testifies
Attorney Tom Girardi is pictured outside a Los Angeles courthouse in July 2014. A neurology professor testified last week that Girardi has such a small brain hippocampus that 98% of people likely have a larger one. (Photo by Damian Dovarganes/The Associated Press)
A neurology professor testified last week that disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi has such a small brain hippocampus that 98% of people likely have a larger one.
Helena Chang Chui, the chair of the neurology department at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, testified Thursday in Girardi’s embezzlement trial, Law360 reports.
A 2021 MRI showed the atrophy of Girardi’s hippocampus, which is responsible for recording new memories.
“I cannot remember seeing anyone in my practice with a hippocampus this small having a normal memory,” Chui said.
Girardi’s lawyers contend that he has dementia, despite being found competent to stand trial in January for allegedly stealing $15 million from four clients. The lawyers attribute Girardi’s inability to keep track of money and his excuses for failure to pay clients to declining cognitive abilities.
On cross-examination, federal prosecutor Ali Moghaddas noted that Girardi’s alleged fraud began as early as 2010, while Chui was “hyper-focused” on 2017 through 2021, according to Law360. People close to Girardi reported that he appeared to have more memory issues after he was involved in a car accident in 2017.
Moghaddas also showed Chui a 2013 email in which Girardi allegedly spun elaborate lies about an unpaid settlement. Moghaddas asked whether someone committing fraud would have to have the capacity to make false statements that build on prior false statements.
Girardi, a name partner at the now-collapsed Girardi Keese law firm in Los Angeles, was part of the successful legal team portrayed in the film Erin Brockovich. His estranged wife is Erika Girardi, who has appeared on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reality TV show.
