Britney Spears’ dad Jamie’s lawyers are hitting back at her mother Lynne in new court papers, accusing her of “exploiting her daughter’s pain and trauma for personal profit.”
Last week, Lynne filed legal papers objecting to $890,000 in legal fees charged by Jamie’s attorneys at Holland & Knight LLP. She requested a portion of money be returned to Britney’s estate, reports TMZ, alleging the law firm was doing unnecessary work as part of a “national media tour.”
In papers seen by Page Six filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles on Monday, Jamie presented his preliminary response to Lynne’s “Objection to Fee and Cost Request of Holland & Knight LLP,” stating that, “Lynne Spears is not acting in the best interests of the Conservatee.”
The filing claims Jamie and his legal team “have been very cautious, limited, and thoughtful in dealing with the media (a far cry from any ‘national media tour’),” and states that “Lynne Spears is the one who exploited her daughter’s pain and trauma for personal profit by publishing a book about [Britney.]”
They were referring to Lynne’s 2008 memoir, “Through The Storm,” which revealed Britney lost her virginity at 14 and took cocaine shortly after.
Jamie’s attorneys further allege that Lynne, “has not been involved in her daughter’s conservatorship until very recently, and she is now raising objections to fees related to matters that she has no knowledge of.”
The papers accuse her of “causing undue delay and expense in the administration of the Conservatorship, and ironically, stirring up more unnecessary media attention.”
The filing alleges that Lynne’s claim that the “fee request is ‘substantively improper'” because the law firm was retained for “litigation services,” and not for media work, “ignores the fact that the Conservatee is a world-renowned entertainer and celebrity and as a result, this Conservatorship has always been, and continues to be, the subject of increasingly intense media scrutiny both in traditional news media as well as on social media and most recently documentary films.”
It continues, “Media matters are inextricably tied to all aspects of the Conservatorship, especially the parties’ disputes and litigation.”
Britney’s conservatorship has made headlines recently and was put under the spotlight by New York Times’ “Framing Britney Spears” documentary, which covered her mental health struggles and the fan-led #FreeBritney movement over her legal issues.
Holland & Knight claims in the filing that their media work “was significant and included continuously monitoring, reviewing, and responding, where appropriate, to reports and inquiries from media outlets, and even recently, to Congress. This work also included careful consideration of filings (and related motions to seal) and preparation for hearings where media representatives would be present. H&K’s efforts resulted in dispelling and correcting much of the inaccurate, misleading, and speculative reporting regarding the Conservatorship.”
Holland & Knight will be lodging their billing statements to the court for review.
Jamie controlled Spears’ estate from 2008 until 2019 when he stepped aside due to health problems. Licensed fiduciary Jodi Montgomery temporarily replaced Jamie and has since taken steps to permanently succeed him at the star’s request.