Britney Spears’ lawyer Mathew Rosengart is calling out Jamie Spears’ petition to have the singer’s estate continue to pay his legal fees, describing the ask as “shameful.”
In court documents filed on Dec. 15 and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Jamie petitioned the court to cover the costs of his legal representation, who are “participating in proceedings concerning Jamie’s ongoing fiduciary duties relating to winding up” the singer’s now-ended conservatorship.
“Prompt payment on account of Jamie’s attorneys’ fees is necessary to ensure the Conservatorship can be wound up quickly and efficiently to allow Britney to take control of her life as she and Jamie desire,” the petition states.
As part of the stipulations of a conservatorship, the singer paid both her own and her father’s legal bills and fees any time she took him to court over the legal arrangement. That ended in September when Jamie filed to end his court conservatorship before he was suspended from his position as the pop singer’s conservator, a role that began in 2008. Britney’s conservatorship was then officially terminated in November by an L.A. judge.
“The request is shameful,” Rosengart said of Jamie’s petition in a statement provided to THR. “Mr. Spears reaped many millions of dollars from Britney as a conservator, while paying his lawyers millions more, all from Britney’s work and hard-earned money.”
He added, “The conservatorship has been terminated and Mr. Spears was suspended ignominiously. Under the circumstances, his petition is not only legally meritless, but it is also an abomination. Britney poignantly testified about the pain her father caused her and this only adds to it. This is not what a father who loves his daughter does.”
The filings argue that “the fiduciary obligations Jamie owes did not end with his suspension or with the order terminating the Conservatorship” and that by not financially covering his legal representation, he would be subjected to “personal bankruptcy and ruin defending baseless claims.”
“No person would ever want to step into the role as conservator if a conservatee could force a conservator to personally pay substantial legal fees defending unfounded allegations,” the petition states.
“Jamie should not be required to sacrifice his personal wellbeing defending his administration of the Estate where each of his actions has thus far been made with the council and approval of others in these proceedings including the Court,” the filing continues.
The petition follows requests made by Britney over the past decade, which reached their public height in the last year, to have her father removed as conservator of both her person and estate. In a speech during a June court hearing, Britney spoke for herself in court, sharing that she was “traumatized” by an “abusive” conservatorship after being made to tour and change her medications against her consent, among other things. The pop singer had previously stated that she feared her father and would not perform again “if her father is in charge of her career.”
In a recently published New York Times investigation, questions were raised about whether those with access to Britney’s finances, specifically her former business manager Lou Taylor and father, had improperly enriched themselves during the 13 years that Jamie served as the singer’s conservator.
