Britney Spears’ Court-Appointed Lawyer Resigns From Conservatorship

Britney Spears’ court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, is resigning from the pop star’s conservatorship case, as Variety reports.

According to documents obtained by Variety, Ingham requested the Los Angeles Superior Court to relieve him of duties as Spears’ legal counsel. The filing made on Tuesday states, “Samuel D. Ingham III resigns as court-appointed counsel for Britney Jean Spears, conservatee, effective upon the appointment of new court-appointed counsel.”

Ingham has represented Spears since 2008, when the court appointed the lawyer as Spears’ counsel and appointed her father, Jamie Spears, as sole conservator.

Last month, Spears addressed the court to request that she be released from the court-ordered conservatorship. During her 24-minute testimony, she alleged the conservatorship was “abusive” and in her statement, she claimed Ingham advised her to not publicly discuss her experiences under the conservatorship.

“My lawyer, Sam [Ingham], has been very scared for me to go forward because he’s saying if I speak up, I’m being overworked in that facility of that rehab place, that rehab place will sue me,” she told the judge. “He told me I should keep it to myself.”

Spears added that she had “kind of built a relationship” with Ingham having talked to Ingham three times a week, but that she would like to have the opportunity to handpick her own lawyer. Additionally, she told the judge that she was not made aware that she could petition the court to terminate the conservatorship.

In November 2020, Ingham filed a request on behalf of Spears that her father be removed as a conservator. Last week, the judge denied Spears’ request.

The news of Ingram’s departure comes on the same day that Spears’ longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, resigned, citing the singer’s apparent desire to retire.