A judge said today she needs more briefing before deciding whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a co-founder of Skype, who wants his ex-girlfriend to return a $471,000 ring and other property he gave her in expectation that they would wed.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Deirdre Hill said that in the interim, she is encouraging both sides to reach a settlement. Mindful that Janus Friis prefers that mediation take place in California while his ex-fiancee, Aura Dione, wants it to occur in Denmark, the judge said the two should consider coming face-to-face through available technology if they cannot meet in person.
Hill said she believes that the issues between Friis and Dione are so personal that any resolution of their differences may have to come through their own interactions instead of relying on their lawyers. She scheduled another hearing for June 29.
Lawyers for Dione, a Danish singer, say the case should be dismissed in California and refiled in Denmark because neither she nor Friis live in the Golden State. Most of the witnesses also reside outside the state, according to Dione’s attorneys.
Attorney Avi Attal, on behalf of Dione, told Hill that the singer does not want to come to California and is doing her best to sever all ties here.
Hill did rule that a California court has personal jurisdiction over Dione, even though Attal maintained his client has only made one visit to the state since Friis sued her last Aug. 27. Attal said Dione came to California to attend a friend’s funeral in January.
Attal also said the current case is only one of many legal disputes between Friis and Dione, some of which are filed in Denmark. He said the acrimony between the pair could be compared to a divorce case.
Friis’ lawyers maintain Dione has had numerous contacts with California and that it would not be inconvenient for the parties or witnesses to have a trial in the state.
Friis’ suit alleges that after he found out that Dione was cheating on him, he demanded the return of the engagement ring, designer clothes, a $6,000 handbag and other pricey items, most of which he says were bought in California.
The couple’s engagement ended when Friis learned “of Aura’s many indiscretions and her pattern of deceit, which took place, for the most part, in California,” according to his court papers.
The 31-year-old singer, whose real name is Maria Louise Joensen, states in a sworn declaration that she had only limited contact with Friis in California in 2014.
Friis, now 39, proposed while the couple was flying from London to Denmark in his private jet in August 2013, according to Dione. She says she returned permanently to Denmark last August.
Friis and Niklas Zennstrom co-founded Skype and sold it to eBay for $2.6 billion in 2005.
