An ex-girlfriend of Nicolas Cage who sued Erika Jayne and two lawyers, seeking nearly $745,000 allegedly due her in a lawsuit settlement, has agreed to accept $15,000 to resolve her claims against one of those attorneys.
In addition to naming “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” cast member Jayne as a defendant, actress and plaintiff Christina Fulton also alleges in her Los Angeles Superior Court complaint that two lawyers who worked for the law firm of Girardi & Keese, John Kelley Courtney and Samantha Gold, committed legal malpractice and other misconduct.
Fulton’s causes of action against Courtney allege breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, professional negligence, and breach of settlement agreement. Courtney’s attorneys filed court papers on Wednesday with Judge Thomas D. Long seeking his approval of a $15,000 settlement of the part of Fulton’s case against his client during a scheduled Oct. 3 hearing.
Girardi & Keese, co-founded by Jayne’s estranged husband, Tom Girardi, fell apart amid allegations that money was stolen from clients and the 56-year-old Fulton alleges she became one such victim when she hired the firm to represent her after she was injured in a January 2016 traffic accident. Fulton’s lawsuit further alleges that the 52-year-old Jayne’s company, EJ Global LLC, was created to channel money from the firm to benefit her.
Girardi & Keese was able to negotiate Fulton a settlement agreement of $924,300 in 2019, but Fulton was not paid her $744,650 share, her suit filed in July 2022 alleges.
Courtney was the senior attorney working the case and Gold was Fulton’s primary attorney, the suit states. Gold’s attorneys have filed a motion for dismissal of Fulton’s claims against their client that is scheduled for hearing March 26, 2024.
Fulton says she discovered this summer through bank records and other financial documents that the settlement money due her were allegedly diverted to Jayne and EJ Global. Fulton further alleges that as Girardi & Keese settled cases, Jayne received the funds and used them to pay for a lavish lifestyle enjoyed by her and Girardi.
But in their answer to the complaint, Jayne’s attorney denied any wrongdoing on his client’s part, EJ Global or a second Jayne company, Pretty Mess Inc.
(“Fulton) solely interacted with Girardi & Keese and attorneys of that firm,” according to Jayne’s lawyer’s court papers. “(Fulton) never interacted with Erika Jayne, EJ Global LLC or Pretty Mess Inc.”
Jayne’s lawyer adds in his court papers that Jayne, EJ Global, and Pretty Mess “had no knowledge of and did not participate in any of the misconduct alleged in the complaint regarding Girardi & Keese and Thomas Girardi.”
Jayne filed for divorce from Girardi in November 2020.
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