Britney ordered to pay almost $400,000 for 3 months of lawyer fees


Britney Spears has been ordered to foot the bills for all the lawyers working on her conservatorship and custody cases, none of which are for more than three months’ work, and the total fees amount to nearly $400,000. In most cases Britney is being charged for work done by lawyers completely against her will.

A Los Angeles court on Thursday ordered payment of nearly $400,000 to the numerous lawyers involved in Britney Spears’s affairs – with the pop star footing the bill.

All the attorneys have been working on the case for less than three months.

Samuel Ingham, Spears’s court-appointed attorney, will continue to receive $10,000 a week, Commissioner Reva Goetz ruled.

Andrew Wallet, the co-conservator of Spears’s finances, will receive an advance of $100,000. (Wallet had not been paid since becoming involved last February.).

The firm which won Jamie Spears control of his daughter’s affairs will also be advanced $175,000, and a lawyer representing Britney’s brother Bryan Spears will get $22,500, while Stacy Phillips, Britney’s new divorce lawyer, will receive $75,000.

The singer’s father and Wallet remain in control of her life until a July 31 hearing.

[From People]

If I was Britney Spears I would be pissed! Her dad stepped in and really stemmed her massive spending, but instead of getting cars, chandeliers, wigs and bad fashion for her money she has to get by on $1,500 a week and all the rest goes to attorneys making up reasons to bill her. There have been accusations that the lawyers in the custody battle working for Kevin are inventing reasons to call hearings and press conferences because Britney’s paying for it all. Given the massive amounts of money we’re talking about that’s probably true. It’s not much of a logical leap to assume that most all of the lawyers working on something for Britney are trying to find creative ways to drag out the conservatorship and custody cases, complicated though they may be. At least she can see her kids again, but no wonder she’s getting back to work already. She has to pay all the people working to make sure she keeps them on gravy train.

Britney is shown outside the recording studio and leaving a hair salon yesterday, thanks to WENN.

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13 Responses to “Britney ordered to pay almost $400,000 for 3 months of lawyer fees”

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  1. Sam says:

    Boy, I wish I was one of the lawyers….NOT

  2. Scott F. says:

    Lets try and follow this logic train for a minute:

    – She needs a conservator because she’s mentally unstable and can’t make her own decisions.

    – Entering into any business relationship where payment is involved is considered a ‘contract’.

    – A person who is under duress/mentally unstable can’t be held liable for any contract they sign – as it’s assumed they can’t understand the ramifications of that decision.

    How exactly can they bill HER for anything? Maybe billing her father, but last time I checked a child isn’t responsible for their father’s legal bills. I don’t know a whole lot about civil law, but I would say she’s got pretty good grounds to get out of paying this – with a creative lawyer that will probably cost her another 500K or so that is.

  3. lola lola says:

    Why should she have to pay for motions brought against her? Why can’t her cheap bastard dad pay his own bills? You’d think he’d want to stem the hemorrhage of her cash instead of hurrying it along.

  4. AC says:

    She doesn’t look happy. Her face and neck also look really balloted.

  5. CinPin says:

    These lawyers are blood sucking leeches!!!

    The judge is no better–how can a lawyer–no matter how much work he is doing–justify $10,000 a week???

    And what’s up with Brit paying for a lawyer for her brother?

    Poor Brit–she needs to get better and go live on a farm in Iowa away from everyone!

  6. Daisy says:

    only the lawyers win

  7. Kayla says:

    That sucks!! All who are taken advantage of Britney know it WILL COME BACK TO YOU!!!!

  8. LefsaFan says:

    Scott said, ”
    – Entering into any business relationship where payment is involved is considered a ‘contract’.”

    This is not true. A valid contract meets 5 legal requirement, one of which is proper form (a mutual agreement in writing). We virtually never have a contract with a lawyer. If there was a contract spelling out what is to be delivered a what unit cost there would be no need for these scab lawyers to go before a judge to make outrageous claims about how much they are worth.

    Brit is getting ripped off, and as long as her old man is in charge, there is nothing she can do about it. She knows she has to wait patiently. We will see what happens when the conservatorship is over.

  9. alarmjaguar says:

    As someone who works in education, I wish I made $10,000 a week. Priorities much?

  10. Syko says:

    The law firm I work in almost always DOES have a contract with clients. We don’t do many contingency fee deals (where you don’t pay unless you win, like the sleazes who advertise on TV carry on about) but we always have a letter agreement that sets forth unit cost (fee per hour) and what to expect. And I don’t think we are unusual. We’re not into running up huge bills – and they do get huge very quickly – without the client being aware and hopefully able to pay.

    I am just not crying for Brit on this. Her dad has saved her a huge sum of money. The lawyers’ fees might not have been so much if she hadn’t been missing hearings and all that stuff she was doing for awhile – if the lawyer shows for the deposition and you don’t, you still have to pay the lawyer, but you don’t progress in the case.

    I don’t think Brit will be filing bankruptcy any time soon. Her dad has done her a world of good, and has probably saved her more money than these lawyers are costing. There’s one way to eliminate the legal fees – sit down with your adversary and work things out.

  11. mollination says:

    So she is supposedly getting better after erradicating all those negative people in her life. You know, the ones that were using her for her money.

    OH, Wait a minute!!!

  12. snarky says:

    I feel bad for her, aside for any of her behavior or problems, this girl is getting KILLED by all the lawyers involved. She’s the cash cow they will milk until she’d dry.

  13. Tanner says:

    I’m fairly new to blogging so thought I would leave my first comment here!