Erika Jayne Loses SLAPP Appeal in $18 Mil Designer Lawsuit

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Credit: filmDIGITALS//MEGA

Erika Jayne has reportedly lost her appeal in a lawsuit brought against her by Marco Marco designer Christopher Psaila.

In a series of updates shared by attorney Ronald Richards, the 54-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star is said to be headed for oral arguments in an $18 million case that accused her of wrongfully suggesting Christopher had made nearly $800,000 in fraudulent charges to her credit card.

“Bad news for Erika Girardi,” Ronald announced on October 15. “In the lawsuit against her in California by Marcos Marco / Christopher Psaila, it was being stalled because Erika appealed the denial of her SLAPP motion. Now, the 9th Circuit has ruled, those are no longer appealable before trial.”

As RHOBH fans may know, Marco Marco’s other designer, Marco Morante, filed a case against Erika in Florida. And earlier this year, it was reported that she was facing a $300,000 default judgment in the suit.

Ronald also noted that the appellants’ motion for a separate oral argument had been granted.

“Both cases, No. 24-2580 and No. 24-1433, are hereby removed from the June 5, 2025 Pasadena calendar and will be held in abeyance pending issuance of the mandate in Gopher Media LLC, et al. v. Melone, et al., No. 24-2626. The mandate will issue shortly and the Court will now set a trial in that case as well,” his message concluded. 

In another post, shared at the end of last month, Ronald revealed that Erika was “desperately trying to settle” the $25 million lawsuit filed against her by Thomas Girardi‘s bankruptcy trustee, which is expected to go to trial on February 10, 2026.

“She had a full day of mediation on September 22, 2025, and it has been reset for October 7, 2025. Maybe she will finally cough up some money,” he shared.

Then, on October 9, he told his followers that settlement negotiations were ongoing.

“Erika can either roll the dice and risk insolvency or work out a principled settlement,” he explained. “The defense of Girardi kept the books and she didn’t know about the ledger or the account was named to her LLC so she gets a pass is a loser. She received $25m for nothing. Funds received like this gets clawed back in a bankruptcy case. Her state of mind is irrelevant.”

Erika was sued in 2021 by the trustee, who alleged that she received, via her company, funds from the now-incarcerated Thomas, 86, that were meant for former clients of his law firm, Girardi Keese.

In one further message, Ronald responded to an X user who wondered why Erika hadn’t been charged with “receiving stolen property in forms of money.”

“She [didn’t] receive property,” he replied on October 12. “They bought things for her and [paid] bills for her. There is no way to prove she knew that her husband was stealing the money and you don’t need to work that hard on a fraudulent conveyance. You just have to prove that she didn’t give anything for the money.”

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 15 is expected to premiere on Bravo sometime later this year or early next year.