Britney Spears’ mom wants Britney’s dad to stop spending Britney’s money on unnecessary lawyers.

Here’s what their dispute can teach you about being a better lawyer.

In the latest episode of the Britney Spears conservatorship saga, Britney Spears’ father (Jamie) and mother (Lynne) are fighting about (what else??) money.

If you watched Framing Britney Spears on Hulu or have been following the #FreeBritney movement, you know that Britney’s fans (and media reports) have portrayed Jamie as an overbearing control-freak who *allegedly* won’t let Britney do or say anything without his approval. In October 2020, Jamie hired a law firm to combat the negative news stories about him. Lynne is alleging that these lawyers produced a media tour to boost Jamie’s reputation, with very little (if any) benefit Britney. These lawyers cost over $890,000 and the expenses were BILLED TO BRITNEY. Lynne wants the court to review the expenses, claiming that is was (a) improper, (b) excessive, and (c) not in good faith for Jamie to spend Britney’s money on lawyers who are mainly concerned with trying to improve Jamie’s reputation.

Jamie will certainly dispute Lynne’s characterization of these facts, but this dispute provides two valuable lessons for lawyers.

1) Before you begin work for a client, assess what is necessary under the conditions.

• Clients sometimes ask for certain services because they know someone who received a similar service or because your website bio mentions that you can provide such a service. You should never make the client pick from a prix fixe menu. When a client hires you, assess what is reasonable and necessary. Don’t extract every pound of flesh just because the client (or their family) has deep pockets.

2) When a third party is paying the legal fees, consider whether there might be a conflict of interest between your client and that third party.

• It is common for lawyers to do work for individuals or companies whose fees are paid by a third party. For example, insurance companies often pay legal fees for the insured and companies often pay legal fees for their employees during work-related disputes. The American Bar Association has good guidance on this, so I’ll only say this: if there is a contentious dynamic between (a) the person paying your fees and (b) the person that is actually your client, you should think long and hard about how to avoid being put in the middle of that messy situation.