BY: Walker
Published 3 years ago
Britney Spears’ mother is joining the chorus of voices entering the fray of her conservatorship saga, pleading with the court to allow her daughter to pick a new attorney of her own choice.
via: People
Just a day after her longtime court-appointed attorney Sam Ingham asked the court to resign as Spears’ counsel, Lynne, 66, filed a petition for permission to hire private counsel on behalf of her daughter — citing Britney’s different capacity than in 2008 when the conservatorship began.
“This Motion to Appoint Private Counsel is of the utmost importance and may very well impact each and every of the other requests submitted by Conservatee in her live testimony at the June 23 Hearing,” read the court document obtained by PEOPLE. “It is self-evident that before the Court addresses, for example, the termination of the conservatorship, Conservatee must be allowed to consult with counsel of her choosing.”
In the filing, Lynne described Britney’s appearance and speech in court as “very courageous,” adding that Britney, 39, “is able to care for her person” and also referred to her ability to perform, choreograph and “earn literally hundreds of millions of dollars as an international celebrity.”
“Her capacity is certainly different today than it was in 2008, and Conservatee should no longer be held to the 2008 standard, whereby she was found to ‘not have the capacity to retain counsel,'” the filing read.
Citing Britney’s verbal request to terminate the conservatorship, Lynne wrote that Britney would need her own, private legal counsel.
Lynne’s more hands-on approach echoes what a source told PEOPLE last week.
“Lynne feels there are a lot of concerns with the conservatorship,” a family source told PEOPLE then. “She feels Jamie has not been transparent with her and is helping Britney as much as she can.”
On the same day as Lynne’s filing, Britney’s conservator of the person Jodi Montgomery requested 24-hour physical security given “a marked increase in the number and severity of threatening posts about” her, with some threatening “violence and even death.”
The court filing from Montgomery also provided a screenshot where Britney — listed as Jane Doe — texts Montgomery, “I need u to stay as my co conservator of person. I’m asking u for ur assistance in getting a new attorney.” (Montgomery stated on Tuesday she would not resign since Britney had asked her to remain.)
On Tuesday, Ingham, without providing a reason as to why he was resigning, asked the court to resign “upon the appointment of new court-appointed counsel.” The news of his resignation came after Spears told the court that she never knew she could file to end her conservatorship.
“I want changes, I deserve changes. I was told I have to be sat down and evaluated again,” she said in court June 23, going on to address Judge Penny directly. “Ma’am, I didn’t know I could petition the conservatorship to end. I honestly didn’t know that.”
“Honestly, I don’t think I owe anyone to be evaluated,” she added. “I’ve done more than enough.”
She also told the court directly that she wanted to be able to hire her own attorney.
“I would personally like to — actually, I’ve grown with a personal relationship with Sam, my lawyer, I’ve been talking to him like three times a week now, we’ve kind of built a relationship but I haven’t really had the opportunity by my own self to actually handpick my own lawyer by myself,” she said. “And I would like to be able to do that.”
Earlier this week, Larry Rudolph resigned as her manager, citing Britney’s desire to retire from music. And last week, Bessemer Trust, which had been selected as a co-conservator of Spears’ estate back in November 2020, resigned from their post citing Spears’ desire to end the conservatorship overall.
#FreeBritney