An ex-girlfriend of Nicolas Cage who sued a reality television personality and two lawyers, seeking nearly $745,000 allegedly due her in a lawsuit settlement, is now close to fully resolving her claims against both attorneys.
In addition to naming “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” cast member Erika Jayne as a defendant, actress and plaintiff Christina Fulton also alleges in her Los Angeles Superior Court complaint that lawyers John Kelley Courtney and Samantha Gold, who worked for the law firm of Girardi & Keese, committed legal malpractice as well as breach of contract and that they put their interests ahead of hers.
Gold’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Thomas Long on Tuesday stating that the part of the case against Gold was resolved for $6,000 and that a request for approval will be sought during a scheduled Feb. 27 hearing.
The lawyers said the only alleged misrepresentations attributed to Gold are two emails to third parties and that a jury likely would not have found that Gold had a connection to Fulton’s failure to receive the settlement funds.
On Oct. 3, Long approved a $15,000 settlement of the part of Fulton’s case against Courtney.
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. Fulton says she discovered through bank records and other financial documents that the settlement money due her was 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. The lawyer said Fulton never interacted with any of the three.
Jayne filed for divorce from Girardi in November 2020. In 1990, Fulton gave birth to a son, Weston Coppola Cage, with the 60-year-old “Leaving Las Vegas” star.