Nicolas Cage's ex-girlfriend Christina Fulton files $700k-plus lawsuit against Erika Jayne

It looks like American singer Erika Jayne has landed herself in legal trouble. According to a report by Page Six, Christina Fulton, the ex-girlfriend of Nicolas Cage, has filed a lawsuit for $700,000-plus against Erika Jayne and two former Girardi & Keese attorneys for alleged fraud and theft. In her court filings that were submitted on Friday, Fulton has accused Jayne’s estranged husband, attorney Tom Girardi, and his ex-colleagues Samantha Gold and John Kelley Courtney, of stealing from her settlement money.

Fulton, 55, endured severe injuries in a car accident in January 2016 and soon after recovering, sought legal representation from the then-prestigious Girardi & Keese law firm. The case was concluded in a confidential settlement agreement filed on March 18, 2019, with a settlement amount of USD 924,300, per the suit. Gold was Fulton’s primary counsel, while Courtney worked as a senior attorney on the case, but Girardi owned and controlled the company at the time.

In the court documents, Fulton mentions that on July 14, 2022, through "newly discovered financial documents" she learned about where her settlement funds actually went. The lawsuit revealed that Fulton’s settlement check had been deposited into a Girardi and Keese bank account without her consent on April 8, 2019.

"This was a complete outright forgery as [Fulton] never endorsed this check and certainly never agreed to have it deposited," the lawsuit claims. "This negotiated check was in fact a forgery and a lie. The check was never held in trust but spent. It is beyond shocking and the pale that the firm would conceal the arrival of the check and not obtain Ms. Fulton’s endorsement as required by law."

The court filings also noted that Fulton had only received a total of USD 190,000 of her settlement between April 2019 and September 2020. Fulton’s lawyers ascertain that it was Girardi’s regular pattern "to dupe his clients into waiting for money by dribbling small payments." She also received an advance of USD 5,000, leaving a USD 744,300 balance, which is the amount she is seeking in damages.

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Fulton’s attorneys have also claimed to have evidence relating to the settlement funds, which were given to Girardi & Keese in three separate checks on different dates. Fulton’s lawsuit further alleged that Jayne had received her funds via the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star’s company, EJ Global. The funds were transferred to Pretty Mess Inc. afterward.

Fulton claimed that Jayne and Girardi had used her funds like their own "assets" to "pay for their lavish lifestyle."

"For at least 12 years, all of her expenses were paid by Girardi Keese as she was generating them. No one withdrew money from the firm other than Erika Girardi," the lawsuit claimed.

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