By Eileen Reslen and Nicholas Hautman
They are dropping like flies.
Britney Spears’ court-appointed attorney, Samuel D. Ingham III, asked to resign from her conservatorship case — less than 24 hours after the pop star’s manager, Larry Rudolph, quit and less than a week after the co-conservator of her estate, Bessemer Trust, announced its exit.
Ingham said in court documents filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday and obtained by Page Six that he wishes to step down “upon the appointment of new court-appointed counsel.”
The law firm Loeb & Loeb LLP, which had recently been brought onto the case to assist Ingham in his duties, is also seeking to resign.
TMZ reported earlier on Tuesday that Ingham came to the decision after being “extremely upset” over claims that Spears, 39, made about him in her bombshell court hearing on June 23.
The “Toxic” singer told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny at the time, “Ma’am, I didn’t know I could petition the conservatorship to end. I honestly didn’t know that.”
Sources alleged to TMZ that Ingham “regularly” gave Britney options, including “requesting that the conservatorship should end.” However, the insiders claimed that the “Lucky” singer had only ever expressed her desire to remove her father, Jamie Spears, as one of her conservators and not to terminate the arrangement altogether.
Ingham previously said in a November 2020 court hearing that Britney is “afraid” of Jamie, who turned 69 Tuesday, and “will not perform again if her father is in charge of her career.” He then filed a petition in March seeking to make licensed fiduciary Jodi Montgomery Britney’s permanent conservator of the person.
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| Sam Ingham has been Britney Spears’ court-appointed attorney for 13 years. Shutterstock; Linkedin |
Sources previously told Page Six that Britney had been feeling frustrated over Ingham’s failure to move to dissolve her conservatorship following her most recent hearing.
“Britney doesn’t understand what the holdup is,” the insider told us. “She feels she made it crystal clear in court that she wants the conservatorship terminated, but nearly two weeks later, she’s still waiting for the petition to be filed.”
A separate insider noted that Britney and Ingham had been in touch “multiple times” since her testimony, adding, “During those conversations, she has reiterated to him that she wants him to file the paperwork to end the conservatorship.”
Ingham was assigned to Britney’s case in 2008 at the onset of the conservatorship by Judge Reva Goetz. The appointment has been met with much criticism from legal experts, who have pointed out that conservatees are often given the option to choose their own counsel and questioned why the “Overprotected” singer was not.
Ingham did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
Montgomery, for her part, told us via her attorney, Lauriann Wright, on Tuesday that she “has no plans to step down” as the conservator of Britney’s person.
“She remains committed to steadfastly supporting Ms. Spears in every way she can within the scope of her duties as a conservator of the person,” Wright said of Montgomery. “Ms. Spears as recently as yesterday has asked Ms. Montgomery to continue to serve. Ms. Montgomery will continue to serve as a conservator for as long as Ms. Spears and the Court desire her to do so.”
The next hearing in Britney’s conservatorship case is set for July 14.
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