Jerry Jones seeking to recoup $1.6 million in legal fees in breach of contract case

Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones will take the stand in a U.S. District Court next week for his breach of contract lawsuit against Cynthia Davis and Alexandra Davis, who is claiming to be his biological daughter. Jones entered into a confidentiality agreement with Cynthia Davis in 1998 to keep her daughter’s parentage under wraps, however, Alexandra is now suing him to establish paternity.

The young woman sued Jones for defamation after his representation claimed she was extorting him by trying to establish paternity, however, the defamation lawsuit was dismissed by a judge in March. Now, the Texas businessman is counter-suing for breach of contract.

For breaching the terms of their contract, he is now seeking to recoup the money that he’s lost amid the various legal proceedings – an amount totaling roughly $1.6 million, according to Davis’s attorneys.

“There was no threat to go public, quite the contrary,” attorneys Andrew Bergman and Jay Gray told ProFootballTalk this week. “Rather than submit to a simple private genetic test, Mr. Jones chose to spend at least 1.6 million dollars that he is now suing his daughter for.”

A judge in Texas last week ruled in favor of Jones and his lawyers by confirming the validity of the Cowboys owner’s contract with Davis, regarding her daughter. The young woman will now face the man she insists is her father in Texarkana on July 22. Whether he wants to or not, the lawyers for the defendants issued a subpoena that now requires Jones to appear and testify.

Contract ‘valid’ in Jones/Davis defamation case

As far as the validity of the contract is concerned, the judge ruled that “Texas law is clear,” that parents or legal guardians can enter legal agreements on their child’s behalf as long as they cannot show that the child’s interest is “adverse” to their guardian’s interest before they turn 18. Davis argued that the agreement prohibiting her from establishing paternity was a violation of Texas public policy.

“It’s really shocking,” Davis’ attorney Jay Gray told the Dallas Morning News. “I respectfully disagree with ruling.”

“We think it supported the position we have been taking all along and the judge pointed out their position is not supported by any case law around the country,” Jones’ attorney Chip Babcock said.

After hearing from both sides in the case on Feb. 19, a Dallas County judge ruled that Jones must submit to testing to determine the paternity of Davis.

Jones’ attorneys, state Sen. Royce West, Levi McCathern and Charles Babcock, appealed a previous ruling against them. They argued that the Dallas Cowboys team owner had a right to privacy in this matter. Documents provided by the defense show that Davis’s representation sought to settle the issue of paternity in a private and “amicable” manner, but that clearly is not how the case has evolved.