Jamie Spears' Attorney Demands Nearly $2 Million In New Estate Battle As Britney Refuses To Pay Staggering $500K Conservatorship Bill
Oct. 6 2021, Published 2:31 p.m. ET
The primary attorney for Jamie Spears in his conservatorship battle with his daughter, Britney Spears, is charging millions as part of a new estate battle.
Days after the pop star's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, refused to pay Vivian Thoreen of law firm Holland & Knight the more than $500,000 she requested to cover the cost of "media matters," she demanded almost $2 million in legal fees as part of a separate case.
Thoreen is part of the team that represents the massive estate of late internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist Tony Hsieh, which is now being controlled by his brother, Andy Hsieh – from whom he was estranged for most of his life – and his father, Richard Hsieh.
Tony retired as the CEO of online retail company Zappos in 2020, three months before he died in a mysterious house fire.
At the time of his death, his estate was estimated to be worth around $850 million.
In court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, which were filed on Sept. 22, Thoreen and her legal team refused to pay sums of money to several of Tony's former employees, asking instead for "fees in the amount of $1,712,437.50 and costs in the amount of $5,539.54" to be "approved and granted." They were.
The law firms of Holland & Knight and Goldsmith & Guymon work together to represent the Hsieh estate.
While the documents show that attorney Dara Goldsmith asked for $500 per hour for her work on the case, Thoreen requested a staggering $1,500 per hour.
Earlier this year – before Britney testified against her allegedly abusive dad/then-conservator in court – her mom, Lynne Spears, objected to Thoreen's four months' fee of $890,000 because she felt the amount was "procedurally and substantively improper."
In those court documents, which were filed in April and obtained by People, Lynne claimed that Holland & Knight had requested payment for services not "performed in good faith for the benefit" of her daughter. At the time, Lynne asked that the court review those costs and that a portion of them – at least $224,000 related to the law firm's communication with the press – be "immediately repaid" to Britney's estate.
According to People, Lynne alleged that some of the law firm's "unnecessary" work "largely constituted a 'national media tour' orchestrated by H&K to promote Ms. Thoreen and/or to combat media coverage that cast Mr. Spears in a negative light."
Reps for Thoreen have not yet responded to RadarOnline.com's repeated requests for comment.
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