- A new court filing from Lynne Spears’ requests that her daughter’s conservatorship estate pay her legal fees.
- The petition says Lynne’s retained counsel was working to benefit Britney over the last two years.
- One firm is billing $504,000, while a second firm’s total payment would be $146,548.
Lynne Spears, mother to pop star Britney Spears, has filed a new petition to the Los Angeles court requesting that her daughter’s conservatorship estate pay for her legal fees incurred since 2019.
Filed by Lynne Spears’ lawyers, the documents (reviewed by Insider) begin by explaining why she sought out legal counsel at a firm called Jones Swanson Huddle & Garrison in 2019. They say she believed her daughter was enduring a “crisis” in early 2019, and wanted to “get involved to help Britney free herself from what she saw as a very controlling existence.”
“Above all, she and Britney wanted Jones Swanson to help Britney achieve independence from her conservator father James Spears (‘Jamie’),” the filing continues.
The filing says Britney “enthusiastically agreed” to have her mother join the conservatorship arrangement as what was called an “interested party,” and that Lynne Spears wrote a letter at the time that acknowledged how the law firm may be permitted to “request compensation” from the conservatee’s estate.
Here’s a breakdown of the legal fees being requested:
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- Jones Swanson Huddell & Daschbach: $840,000, to which Jones Swanson is willing to apply a 40% discount to $504,000
- Ginzburg & Bronshteyn, APC: $146,548
- TOTAL: $650,548
Lynne Spears never had a formal role in the legal guardianship for her daughter, but the filing says her legal team began appearing in court hearings related to the conservatorship and conducted a review of the historic record of the case.
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The filing continues: “In taking on the representation of Lynne Spears, the mission of counsel was clear and simple: do whatever it took to assist Britney to break the restrictions imposed by the conservatorship and move in the direction of the removal of Jamie as conservator, and, ultimately, total termination of the entire conservatorship.”
Lynne Spears’ lawyers make the case that, because Britney was not permitted to select her own lawyer until the summer of 2021, Lynne Spears “entered this case with her own counsel in order to fill that gap.”
In essence, the petition claims that Lynne Spears’ lawyers were working with Britney’s interest in mind and played a role in having restrictions on her day-to-day life changed. They use the example of Britney being able to take vacations, drive herself around, and “get her iPhone back” after being restricted to using a flip phone.
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Lynne Spears’ lawyers also say they pushed back against fees being requested by Jamie Spears’ lawyers related to handling “media,” and saved money for the conservatorship in other ways.
“Attorneys’ fees are appropriate and warranted in the instant matter for Lynne’s counsel given the advantages, results, and benefits achieved for Britney and given the fact that all actions taken were in Britney’s best interests,” the filing says.
The filing then points to a section of the California Probate Code that supports their claim, saying estate funds can be used for compensation if the court specifically approves it.
Judge Brenda Penny will review this petition, along with any others filed in the case, during a December 8 hearing related to fees in Britney’s conservatorship. Britney’s lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, has made multiple statements in court documents that say the pop star’s financial estate was “mismanaged” by her father over the last 13 years. In September, prior to Jamie Spears’ suspension, Rosengart said he was trying to “barter” $2 million in exchange for leaving the conservatorship. Jamie Spears’ attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.
Before the December hearing takes place, however, a November 12 hearing will determine whether Britney’s conservatorship is terminated altogether.