Britney Spears’ court-appointed lawyer resigns

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The court-appointed attorney who has represented Britney Spears in regency since its inception, is resigning in the wake of the pop star’s explosive comments about the legal arrangement that gave her father and her attorney control of her life for more than a decade.

In a new filing Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Samuel Ingham notified the judge of his resignation and that of co-counsel Loeb and Loeb LLP. He also requested that their exit take effect “on the appointment of a new lawyer appointed by the court.”

Ingham did not give a reason for his resignation or indicate whether the 39-year-old singer has chosen a new lawyer, as she told the judge she would like to. Ingham did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News’ questions.

On June 23, the 39-year-old singer addressed the court in a rare public hearing, where she shared a string of shocking discoveries – including that she’d like to marry and have another child, but under guardianship, she hasn’t. I managed to make an appointment with the doctor to have the IUD removed. During her statement, Spears said she didn’t know she could petition to end the legal arrangement – a claim that brought more scrutiny to Ingham, who was appointed to represent her when the court first approved the creation of the guardianship on February 1. , 2008.

Ingham’s resignation comes days after Bessemer Trust, a wealth management firm appointed to manage Spears’ properties with her father, submitted her resignation from her job as governor, saying she had “listened to the reserve and respected its wishes”. Last week, her father, Jamie Spears, denied any involvement in his daughter’s care and asked the court to investigate her allegations.

Spears’ comments came months after the New York Times’ “Framing Britney Spears” documentary was released, prompting a reconsideration of the way the media was treated before and during her public meltdown. The documentary also questioned her father’s control over her financial and physical safety, given her return to a successful music career.

Fans who paid for #FreeBritney have always wondered if Ingham was acting in Spears’ best interest. The day before she addressed the court, The Times reported that Spears had lobbied for an end to guardianship for years, and during her public statement, she told the judge that she wanted her release. But Ingham, who charges $475 an hour to represent Spears, according to The Times, and earned about $373,000 for working with her in 2019, never petitioned to terminate the agreement.

Under guardianship, the singer pays the attorney’s and her attorney’s fees.

He’s making a lot of money,” Junior Olivas, an activist with the #FreeBritney campaign, told BuzzFeed News last month. “When you make so much money for doing nothing, why would they want to quit?”

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