Almost a month after Britney Spears addressed a Los Angeles court about wanting to end her conservatorship, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny has granted approval for the singer to hire her own lawyer as she fights to regain control of her life.
Spears gave an emotional testimony over the phone on Wednesday, July 14, in which she tearfully told Penny that she wanted to remove her father, Jamie Spears, from his controlling position over her life and finances.
“Instead of trying to investigate my behaviour or my capacity, I want my dad investigated. This conservatorship is literally allowing my dad to rule my life…that is abuse, and we all know it,” she said while also expressing her desire to sue her father for his actions.
The 39-year-old pop star will now hire Mathew Rosengart — one of Hollywood’s most powerful attorneys — to represent her in her ongoing battle.
Addressing the court, Rosengart said, “Ms Spears does absolutely have a right to select her own attorney,” while arguing that her comments in her previous hearing demonstrated that she was capable and cognizant. “This is not working. We know that” he said. “The goal is to end the conservatorship. We have questions if this was even the proper forum back in 2008.”
Rosengart also argued that Jamie Spears should voluntarily step down from his role as conservator, after hearing what his daughter had to say.
Judge Penny ultimately approved the appointment of Rosengar while Spears’s court-appointed attorney, Samuel D. Ingham III, was removed from the singer’s counsel.
“We will be filing as quickly as possible to get Mr Spears removed from the conservatorship,” Rosengart said. “If he loves his daughter it is time to step aside and move on so she can have her life back.”
Meanwhile, Jamie Spears’s lawyer Vivian Thoreen countered that “there is no basis for him stepping down”, adding that Britney’s belief that her father was to blame for the “litany of horrible things that have happened to her” could not be further from the truth.
Referring to the singer’s claim that she had been prohibited from removing her IUD in order to have another child, Thoreen said, “These are serious claims that need to be vetted…I’m not sure that Ms Spears understands that she can make those decisions. We really need to understand and piece together what the truth is.”
Spears’s conservatorship is divided into two parts: conservatorship of the person and of the estate. The conservatorship of the person has been managed by Jodi Montgomery whose lawyer, Lauriann Wright, spoke at the hearing on behalf of her client, arguing, “There is no question that we are dealing with someone with mental illness.”
A follow-up hearing has been scheduled for September 29, to address the other items on the docket.
