Britney Spears's mother Lynne Spears has expressed her frustration with how much money her ex-husband Jamie Spears is spending on attorney fees in the conservatorship case for their daughter.
According to a court document filed on Monday (19 April), Lynne objected to the four months’ fee of $890,000 from Jamie's law firm Holland & Knight, saying that several of the fees requested by Jamie's attorneys were both “procedurally and substantively improper”.
Lynne also claimed that the firm asked to be compensated for services not “performed in good faith for the benefit” of Britney, who has been living under a conservatorship largely overseen by her father.
The pop star's mother also asked that the court review attorney costs and that Holland & Knight repay Britney’s estate approximately $224,000, fees which were “related to the law firm's communication with the press”.
The document also pointed out the firm's “unnecessary” work “largely constituted a ‘national media tour’ orchestrated by H&K to promote [Jamie's attorney] Ms [Vivian Lee] Thoreen and/or to combat media coverage that cast Mr Spears in a negative light.”
Earlier this month, Jamie filed a request asking Britney to pay his nearly $2m (£1.45m) legal fees.
The singer’s life has been controlled by a court-ordered conservatorship since 2008, with her father in control of both her financial and personal affairs before stepping down from the latter role in September 2019 due to health reasons.
It comes after Britney’s lawyer asked an LA judge to permanently remove her father from his role overseeing her personal affairs.
Her attorney, Samuel D Ingham III, said that Britney wanted Jody Montgomery, a professional conservator, to be permanently appointed and have her father resign from overseeing her personal life.
Public interest in Britney’s conservatorship was renewed earlier this year following the release of the Framing Britney Spears documentary.
In February, Jamie shared his side of the story via Thoreen, who spoke to Good Morning America: “I understand that every story wants to have a villain, but people have it so wrong here,” Thoreen told the programme.
She added: “This is a story about a fiercely loyal, loving, and dedicated father who rescued his daughter from a life-threatening situation. People were harming her and they were exploiting her. Jamie saved Britney’s life.”
