Britney Spears's mother asks judge to allow daughter to choose her own lawyer

Lynne Spears says the singer is in a very different place than when her conservatorship began in 2008

Britney Spears and her mother, Lynne Spears. Lynne has petitioned a judge to allow her daughter the right to choose her own attorney in her conservatorship case. SGranitz / WireImage

Lynne Spears has asked the Los Angeles County Superior Court to allow her daughter, Britney Spears, to choose her own conservatorship lawyer after her court-appointed lawyer asked to resign.

In a court filing from Tuesday, Lynne states through her legal team that Britney is in a very different place to when her conservatorship began in 2008, and that she should be able to hire her own lawyer after her “impassioned plea to be heard”. She asked that her daughter’s wishes be respected.

The filing was made after Britney gave evidence on June 23, pleading for her nearly 13-year conservatorship, which she described as “abusive”, to be terminated.

Lynne’s legal team also said that the fact the singer didn’t even know she could petition the court to end her conservatorship was more than enough evidence that she immediately needs a private lawyer to advise her as to her “basic rights”.

“To earn this money, [Britney] has had to perform in front of millions of people, has had to manage hundreds of performances, has had to use her artistic and creative talents to prepare for shows by choreographing each and every move for and interacting with many co-performers, and has had to rehearse and perform for many thousands of hours over the years,” said Lynne’s filing with the court.

“Her capacity is certainly different today than it was in 2008, and [Britney] should no longer be held to the 2008 standard, whereby she was found to ‘not have the capacity to retain counsel'.”

On Wednesday, Britney’s current personal co-conservator, Jodi Montgomery, also asked the court to consider allowing the singer to hire her own legal representation since she felt this was not her area of expertise.

Ms Montgomery asked the judge to consider appointing a new guardian ad litem (a guardian that a court appoints to look after someone during a case) with the sole purpose of helping Britney find a new lawyer. She also asked for increased security support, citing threats to the star's safety in the weeks since giving evidence at the hearing.

Judge Brenda Penny, who is overseeing the case, will make a decision on Wednesday, July 14, the date of the next conservatorship hearing.