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Priscilla Presley’s legal team has responded to her former attorney Lynn Walker Wright’s request to be removed from an ongoing elder abuse case. PEOPLE obtained a recent filing on Thursday, November 7, in which Presley’s attorneys, Martin D. Anger, T. Wayne Harman, and Max D. Fabricant, opposed Walker Wright’s September 5 motion to quash service of summons and dismiss the case. The motion cited “lack of personal jurisdiction” and “forum non conveniens,” a legal principle suggesting a more appropriate venue might handle the case.
The elder abuse lawsuit, filed by Presley in July 2024, claims that her ex-business partner Brigitte Kruse, as well as Walker Wright and others, financially exploited her and stole $1 million. In her complaint, Presley alleges that Kruse, founder of Kruse GWS Auctions, manipulated her finances, gaining control and isolating her from key personal and professional relationships. Presley also claimed that Kruse “duped her into believing that they would take care of her (personally and financially).”
Kruse’s attorneys argued the lawsuit was “retaliatory,” a claim Presley’s attorney Marty Singer publicly disputed, stating Presley is the real “victim” in the matter.
Walker Wright, a practicing attorney in Florida, formally requested dismissal in September, vehemently denying claims of elder financial abuse, conspiracy, and breach of fiduciary duty. She also argued that, as a Florida attorney, she prepared documents for Presley in Florida, with jurisdiction clauses requiring disputes to be handled in Orange County, Florida. Walker Wright further requested dismissal under the principle of forum non conveniens.
Presley’s attorneys countered this on November 7, claiming Kruse and her associate, Kevin Fialko, introduced Presley to Walker Wright, allegedly isolating her from longtime advisors and replacing them with ones aligned with Kruse. The filing claims this manipulation was “an essential part” of Kruse and Fialko’s plan to control Presley’s finances for their benefit.
In her filing, Presley detailed that after meeting Walker Wright in January 2023, Walker Wright engaged in extensive communications with her San Diego attorneys, including discussions on Presley’s power of attorney and healthcare directives. The filing states, “I am informed and believe that it was Kruse who instructed Walker Wright to prepare those documents and that this was done to facilitate the defendants’ control over my life.”