California lawmakers approved a bill that allows wards of the state under guardianship like singer Britney Spears to choose their own attorney.
But advocates assert that more needs to be done about court-appointed attorneys for proposed wards who may not have the resources to hire their own counsel.
“The problem is that court-appointed attorneys are looking to the judge for future appointments for their income stream so they're likely to try and please the judge rather than please their clients,” said attorney Tom Coleman, legal director of the Spectrum Institute and founder of the Disability and Guardianship Project in Palm Springs, which monitors the conservatorship system statewide for abuses, neglect, and exploitation. “That's why we also need to get rid of these appointment systems in Los Angeles and other counties. It should be an outside independent entity that appoints attorneys.”
Both the Senate and the Assembly unanimously approved Assembly Bill (AB) 1194 last week.
“This bill says that even if the person's attorney of choice is not on the court’s approved counsel list, they can still represent the client,” Coleman told the Southern California Record. “If a client wants to choose a civil rights attorney who knows little or nothing about probate law, that's their right just like in a criminal case. That attorney no longer has to be on the courts’ approved list.”
Wards of the state under guardianship or conservatorship are typically the elderly or adults with mental or developmental disabilities who are alleged to be unable to manage their personal lives and lose most of their civil liberties after being placed under court supervision.
“I would prefer to have a criminal defense attorney or a civil rights attorney represent me in probate court rather than one of the attorneys who regularly practices in probate court because for anybody who regularly practices in probate court in Los Angeles, there is a go-along to get-along culture,” Coleman said. “An involuntary litigant in these proceedings may be better off having an attorney who is a proven fighter. They can learn or even associate with co-counsel about the nitty-gritty of probate.”
Last month, Spears chose former federal prosecutor Mathew S. Rosengart to represent her but only after Los Angeles Superior Court Brenda Penny allowed it, according to media reports. Her father, Jamie Spears, who had been his daughter’s guardian for 13 years, filed a motion to end the conservatorship last week.
“The law is moving in the right direction slowly,” Coleman added. “I'm going to be holding webinars for public defenders and court-appointed attorneys about what they have to do to comply with this new law because they're going to need some education. They're not used to doing a thorough job for their clients. They're used to just doing the minimum.”
Judge Penny will hear Spears’ motion on Sept. 29.