The Florida lawyer accused of conspiring with memorabilia auctioneer Brigitte Kruse to defraud Priscilla Presley out of more than $1 million in an alleged elder abuse scheme is breaking her silence to claim she never violated her duty to the author, actress, and ex-wife of Elvis Presley.
In new court filings obtained by Rolling Stone, lawyer Lynn Walker Wright says she “vehemently denies” duping Presley into signing a stack of legal documents that Presley alleges were so “unconscionable” and damaging to her financial interests, they’re legally “unenforceable.” Walker Wright admits she represented Kruse in a separate legal matter before she represented Presley at the July 2023 document-signing meeting at the center of the case – where Kruse was an adverse party in the negotiations – but Walker Wright is adamant there was no conflict of interest. The lawyer also defends her decision to videotape Presley, her own client, at the meeting.
“I videotaped Ms. Presley’s meeting with me and her execution of all Florida documents prepared by me with her consent. I explained each document during the meeting and answered all questions she asked,” Walker Wright states in her new sworn declaration. “I had videotaped other clients executing estate planning and other documents in the past if I had any concern that a document would possibly later be contested.”
In her declaration, Walker Wright says Presley, 79, consented to the taping. She further states that she rescheduled the signing appointment twice to accommodate Presley’s schedule. She says the meeting finally took place the day after Presley purportedly had dinner with former President Donald Trump and his wife Melania at Mar-a-Lago and just hours before Presley flew back to California to attend the 2023 Golden Globes, the awards ceremony where Austin Butler would win a best acting award for his lead role in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic and Presley would see her daughter, Lisa Marie, for the last time before her unexpected death days later.
Walker Wright filed her declaration as part of a new motion asking a Los Angeles County judge to reject the claims lodged against her in Presley’s blockbuster elder abuse lawsuit filed against her and Kruse, as well as Kruse’s husband and another business associate, in July. Walker Wright argues she has never lived or worked in California, so Presley shouldn’t be allowed to sue her in the Golden State.
In her underlying lawsuit, Presley claims Kruse is a “con-artist and pathological liar” who fraudulently induced her to form several closely held companies with Kruse at the helm. The company contracts gave Presley only minority shares in the ventures — just 20 percent in at least one case — even though Kruse received the exclusive license to profit off of Presley’s name, image, and likeness.
Presley has not commented on the legal war outside of her filings. In a declaration filed July 19 in Florida, she described the document signing held at Kruse’s home as predatory.
“Kruse arranged for me to be ‘represented’ by her friend, Lynn Walker Wright,” Presley wrote. “I was isolated from my advisors and asked to sign a series of agreements, one after the other, with little to no explanation of the contents of each agreement. For example, I was never advised that the agreements stated that I would be holding only a minority interest in these companies, in some cases, only 20% of the company. I had not been provided with any paperwork to review in advance, had not had an opportunity to have anyone review the paperwork before I was asked to sign it, and was not advised as to the nature of the paperwork in advance by Wright, my purported attorney.”
A source close to the Dallas star tells Rolling Stone she’s “been through hell” in the last year as she’s been fighting to extricate herself from the disputed deals. “Priscilla is one of the nicest people,” the source says. “She’s just a very sweet and trusting woman.”
Presley filed her elder abuse lawsuit two months ago after Kruse separately sued her for breach of contract in Florida last year. Kruse alleged in her dueling lawsuit that Presley illegally walked out on their agreements when her financial circumstances changed in the wake of Lisa Marie’s death. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Presley initially challenged a 2016 amendment to her daughter’s Promenade Trust that removed her as a co-trustee, but she quickly reached a generous settlement with granddaughter Riley Keough that granted her a $1 million lump-sum payment, $100,000 annual salary, and burial rights near Elvis at Graceland.
Kruse did not personally respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment sent Tuesday afternoon. Her Florida lawsuit hit a possible speed bump Tuesday when a judge agreed to let her lawyer, Jeffery Gilbert, withdraw from the case due to alleged “irreconcilable” differences. Kruse’s new lawyer, Kevin A. Reck, tells Rolling Stone he and his clients “look forward to vindicating our rights in these court proceedings.” He says Gilbert was “replaced” in the Orland case “in an effort to better align with the plaintiffs’ overall litigation strategy.” A hearing on Presley’s motion to dismiss the Florida lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction is set for November.
Meanwhile, Walker Wright’s motion to be cut loose from the Los Angeles lawsuit is set for a hearing on Nov. 21. The judge on that case recently gave Presley an extension on her deadline to serve Kruse with the California complaint. Presley’s lawyers had alleged in a filing that Kruse and her husband were “evading service for no legitimate purpose other than to avoid facing liability in this action.” In his emailed response, Kruse’s lawyer denied his client was ducking service. “With regard to the scandalous allegations of the intentional evasion of service, these unfounded allegations are categorically denied,” Reck says.
In a statement previously sent to Rolling Stone, a spokesperson for Kruse called Presley’s elder abuse lawsuit a “retaliatory” response to Kruse’s breach of contract case. “We are confident that the facts will speak for themselves and justice will prevail,” the statement said. “It saddens all of us who dropped our lives to provide aid to a woman who needed help and she is now attempting to use her celebrity status to ruin the lives of kind, hardworking people. Thank you to all of our supporters who have stood by us during this difficult time. We will continue to focus on our business and look forward to our day in court. The truth will come out by way of evidence and not rumors. There will be no further comment at this time as we respect the judicial process.”