'Britney's' lawyer loses appeal
2008-03-25 07:17
Los Angeles - A California court on
Monday denied an attorney's bid to challenge an order that gave control of troubled pop star Britney Spears's personal and business affairs to her father, Jamie Spears.
A three-judge panel of California's 2nd District Court of
Appeals said on Monday an appeal to the conservatorship granted
to Jamie Spears cannot be heard by them. The ruling marks the
second time attorney Jon Eardley has failed to insert himself
into the legal proceedings on Spears's behalf.
"An order granting letters of temporary conservatorship is
specifically excluded from those orders made appealable" under California law, the judges ruled.
A spokesperson for Eardley had no immediate comment.
Eardley filed the appeal on March 11 to the conservatorship
that put Jamie Spears and lawyer Andrew Wallet in charge of the
singer's affairs. Wallet and Spears were made co-conservators
by a California court in early February, and the order now
extends to July 31.
Spears, 26, has seen her life spiral out of control
since her November 2006 break-up with Kevin
Federline. She has been in rehab, lost custody of her two sons
and in January was taken to two Los Angeles-area hospitals
where she was put under psychiatric evaluation.
In recent weeks, however, Spears seems to have been on the
mend, and will appear on Monday in US television show, How I
Met Your Mother.
Sam Lutfi, the self-styled manager who was Spears's constant
companion through much of 2007 has had a temporary restraining
order issued against him to stay away from Spears. That
order remains in place until April 16.
Lutfi and Eardley are both represented by the same Los
Angeles-based spokesperson, Michael Sands, but Sands has not
disclosed any connection between them.
Eardley said in a court filing that Britney Spears hired
him in a telephone conversation.
In February, Eardley tried to move the conservatorship case
from state court to federal court, where he believed he might
obtain legal standing.
But a federal judge ruled he could not represent Spears
because at the time he said he had been hired, Spears had no
legal authority to hire a lawyer.