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Britney Spears to gain control of her money as judge denies reserve fund for legal fees – The Hollywood Reporter

The battle over whether Britney Spears should pay the millions in legal fees brought by her father while he was the conservator of her estate isn’t over yet, but an LA judge won’t allow the money to be kept in custody. preserved until that is decided and ruled that the performer should have control of his money.

In a heated hearing Wednesday afternoon before Judge Brenda Penny, attorneys for Britney and Jamie Spears and others involved in the now-terminated conservatorship contested the allegations of misconduct, leaks, and misdemeanors. press leaks and who will control the star’s money.

Justin Gold, attorney for the estate’s temporary conservator, John Zabel, argued that the conservatorship should be passed on to Britney, which drew fierce criticism from Jamie’s attorney Alex Weingarten. “Let’s remember why this mode of preservation exists,” says Weingarten. “Multiple Sclerosis. Spears was irresponsible with her money”.

Britney’s attorney, Mathew Rosengart, quickly interjected that “conservatorship has ended”.

Going into the hearing, there was a battle over Jamie’s ongoing legal fees and whether they should be paid to Britney’s estate because of his previous conservatorship. His legal costs escalated starting in the fall of 2020, when Britney’s court-appointed attorney Samuel Ingham III expressed his desire that her father not continue to be the sole conservator of her estate, This led to a series of controversial hearings and ultimately his suspension. Millions of dollars in fees, and continuing to rise, are now being approved by the courts. One company alone, Holland & Knight, pinned its fees to more than $1.3 million.

David Nelson of Loeb & Loeb, one of the other firms seeking to collect the fee, backed Weingarten’s objection to the transfer, arguing that assets in the estate remained within the jurisdiction of the court despite the termination of conservatorship. manage. But Ingham, pointing out that Loeb & Loeb had less than $100,000 in unpaid legal fees, Rosengart said that Rosengart should simply have declared in court that Britney would honor the payments if the judge allowed them.

Rosengart insists he can deal with claims for fees if necessary, arguing that Britney has enough money to pay her attorney and that she “won’t dispose of her assets”.

In the end, Penny declined to set aside funds and explained that there are statutory safeguards to ensure attorneys are paid in the event an order is issued with a claim on their fees.

Ahead of the hearing in a December 15 filing, Weingarten argued that Jamie was still obligated to “transfer management of Britney’s estate to Britney’s agent, in relation to more than 13 years of records relating to Real Estate. estate worth US$57 million,” as well as completing the 12th Accounting, preparing the final accounting and participating in the discovery regarding the management of his estate, all of which he we presume it is possible to bill the estate regardless of “toothless” allegations of misconduct. Weingarten argues that other attorneys involved in conservatorship have already been paid 80% of billable fees and 100% of associated costs and that his firm is no different, particularly when the court ” will ultimately review all payments to each party’s attorneys to confirm Britney’s Estate is protected and possibly subject back orders for excessive or insufficient fees. “

Rosengart countered arguing that Jamie’s new attorneys were not “necessary” to end the terminated conservatorship and that the allegations of misconduct were relevant:[I]In addition to conflicts of interest, mismanagement and other misconduct, Mr. Spears’ actions also involved federal and state criminal law. “

He countered Jamie’s argument that “his record is said to be ‘perfect’ because no one has objected to his first 11 accounts and he has yet to be charged” and notes that he never faced “official detection to seriously examine its activities” until this past August. . He also emphasized the court’s decision.

“Mr. Spears’ attorneys were paid literally millions of dollars at his daughter’s expense,” Rosengart wrote in his objection, attached below. an extra penny, this Court should exercise its right and authority to properly allocate any other fees. Otherwise, Ms. Spears will end up being forced to spend even more time and money trying to trying to make more money back than she had to.”

In a statement filed with the opposition, an FBI agent turned over the forensic investigator hired by Rosengart’s company detailing Jamie’s troubled financial history and the efforts made to prove it. Explosive allegations by a security company about tracking Britney’s iPhone and installing a secret recording device in her bedroom were initially reported by The New York Times. Sherine Ebadi also notes that the Black Box security whistleblower says Jamie used money from the estate to pay to investigate several #FreeBritney activists and alleges that evidence suggests he mismanaged funds. and is involved in a number of fronts, including real estate holdings. Ebadi concluded that Jamie used his position as an undercover to “enrich himself and those who were loyal or helpful to him” and profited exclusively for the $6.3 million period from 2008- 20.

Those allegations were also addressed during Wednesday’s hearing, including a controversial exchange after Rosengart said Weingarten hid information in the discovery that Jamie directed surveillance of his daughter.

Weingarten countered the charges against Jamie and claimed Rosengart planted the story in New York Times.

Rosengart denied the allegation and countered, saying, “Mr. Weingarten did not say a thing about whether its customers knew about or directed electronic surveillance of my customers. ”

Weingarten replied: “Your honor did not happen.

Rosengart replied: “Let’s see what Mr. Spears said when he took the oath of office.”

The pending twelfth accounting and legal fees will be settled at a later date. Among the remaining issues, Britney’s team is also challenging fees paid to her former business management company, TriStar Sports and Entertainment, arguing that they are excessive and have an inherent conflict of interest with the company. The company handled Britney’s finances in the first place because it lent Jamie $40,000 in 2008. After Britney’s hiatus in 2019, the company informed Jamie that it was suffering a financial loss in settled her job because it was paid as a percentage of her sales and asked to change the agreement to include a month of retention fees to ensure it was paying at least $500,000 annually. The dispute over the subpoena sent to the company was originally scheduled to be heard in Wednesday’s hearing, but the parties agreed to continue the matter.

The next hearing is currently set for March 16, and another is scheduled for July 27.

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