Britney Spears Retains New Lawyer in Conservatorship Case
The singer is making headway in the battle to dissolve her conservatorship.
At the latest court hearing regarding Britney Spears' conservatorship, the singer has been officially granted the ability to retain her own counsel. Earlier this week, it was reported that Spears wanted to hire attorney Mathew Rosengart to represent her in court. However, in accordance with the terms of her guardianship, the court must approve of her lawyer. Having been given the ability to select her own lawyer, Spears takes another step further in her fight to end her conservatorship.
In a bombshell court hearing last month, the "Toxic" artist spoke publicly on her conservatorship for the first time. She accused her family of abuses including switching her medication and barring her from having her IUD removed so she can have more children. Speaking to Judge Brenda Penny, Spears also remarked upon the fact that she has never been allowed to choose her own attorney. Until now, the star has been represented by Samuel Ingham III, her court-appointed counsel. Spears expressed her belief that Ingham has not been acting in her best interest throughout the proceedings, citing the fact that she was unaware a conservatorship could be terminated.
The singer has been under a 14-year-long guardianship by her father Jamie Spears which gives him control of both her person and finances. While last month's court appearance was the first time Britney had publicly shared her thoughts on her circumstances, court documents from years past showed a history of her dissatisfaction with her father's control over her. She noted both his drinking and his spending as major concerns.
Despite Britney's longheld silence on her conservatorship, the situation came under more intense scrutiny in 2019 after the formation of the #FreeBritney Movement, a collective of fans and supporters around the world that saw Britney's conservatorship as an abuse of power. Further attention was placed on her family's control over her medical decisions and finances after the release of the documentary Framing Britney Spears which recently received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Picture Editing. The project detailed the personal turmoil that led Britney to be placed under her father's conservatorship, as well as the greater issue of probate conservatorships and the constraints of the Conservatee under California state law.