How Britney Spears Reacted to New Lawyer Breakthrough in Conservatorship Case
On July 14, a hearing related to Britney Spears' conservatorship took place, where Judge Brenda Penny made some rulings over the various pieces of litigation filed. These included two requests to resign from a role within the conservatorship and requests for new counsel.
For Spears fans, this hearing has been a big success, as the singer has been granted the right to appoint her own counsel.
This comes after Sam Ingham, her court-appointed lawyer since 2008, filed a petition to resign from his role on the appointment of new counsel.
Britney Spears has chosen former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart to take on her conservatorship case. He was present in court on July 15.
The singer was not present in court, but called in to reaffirm her previous requests to have her father, Jamie Spears, removed from her conservatorship.
She also claimed his treatment of her has been an example of "conservatorship abuse," saying liberties have been taken from her over the past 13 years.
She said in a tearful phone call to the court: "I'm here to press charges. I'm angry and I will go there.
"You're allowing my dad to ruin my life. I have to get rid of my dad and charge him with conservatorship abuse."
After the ruling, Britney Spears posted a video of her doing cartwheels and riding a horse on Instagram, with the caption: "Coming along, folks ... coming along!!!!!
"New with real representation today ... I feel GRATITUDE and BLESSED !!!! Thank you to my fans who are supporting me ...
"You have no idea what it means to me be supported by such awesome fans !!!! God bless you all !!!!!
"Pssss this is me celebrating by horseback riding and doing cartwheels today !!!! #FreeBritney"
The judge also accepted the resignation of the Bessemer Trust from Britney Spears' conservatorship, who had been appointed as co-conservators with Jamie Spears in February 2021.
This came after Britney Spears filed for them to become co-conservators in November 2020, which would mean her father would have less control over her finances.
The Bessemer Trust was appointed in February 2021 by the judge, but paperwork was only officially filed and approved much later, meaning they only became official co-conservators in late June 2021.
The trust claimed in its filing to have not received the Letter of Conservatorship, which would authorize them to begin their work as a co-conservator.
As a result, they left the conservatorship without having been able to take any responsibility over Britney Spears' finances.
Christa Ramey, co-founder of Los Angeles-based civil litigation firm Ramey Law PC, commented on the proceedings, saying how the change in attorney for Britney Spears is an important step towards ending the conservatorship.
She said, "Now that Britney gets a new court-appointed attorney, we're going to see the tides change.
"Mathew Rosengart will do what Britney has implored others to do, including hiring experts to evaluate her concerns and perhaps help her prove that she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
"The ability to regain her civil liberties is a positive step forward. All her supporters should be very happy with what happened today."
At present, Britney Spears has not filed to terminate her conservatorship, and the judge said they would not consider the pop star's spoken requests for this action until an official filing is made.
