Lawyer: 'Writing is on the wall' that Britney Spears' conservatorship will end

Britney Spears nabbed a big win in her conservatorship battle this week, after Judge Brenda Penny ruled that the pop star can now hire the attorney of her choosing. Yahoo Finance Alexandra Canal breaks down the latest.

Video Transcript

ZACK GUZMAN: In this week's "Fame and Fortune," update-- an update to the saga around Free Britney. Of course, it's been trending on Twitter every time we talk about it. The latest update there, that Britney Spears is allowed by the judge to hire her own attorney.

And for more on that and the battle to end the conservatorship that she says has taken over her life, I want to bring on Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal with the details. And Allie, I mean, I know you've been tracking this for a while, you know. And a lot of people really hopped on the Free Britney bandwagon after her impassioned plea in the last update here to end this conservatorship. But what does this do now to her side of the fight?

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Well, you know, Zack, I feel like I am a conservatorship expert at this point amid the Free Britney movement. But on Wednesday, we did get a pretty big win for the pop star. She was finally granted the right to hire her own attorney.

She did go ahead and hire Mathew Rosengart. He's a former prosecutor and a big time Hollywood lawyer. He's represented A-listers from Ben Affleck to Steven Spielberg. He is largely expected to be very aggressive. He already told the judge that he will be filing that paperwork to end the conservatorship altogether within the next few weeks.

A lot of people were watching this case, especially this hearing, on Wednesday to see what the judge would rule. We had prominent organizations weigh in, such as the American Civil Liberties Union. They actually wrote to the courts earlier this week, saying the right to choose one's own attorney is a core element of the Sixth Amendment.

So Britney Spears was very happy. She actually went on Instagram and did hashtag #FreeBritney on Instagram, which sent all her fans into a frenzy. There were multiple people outside of the courtroom, advocating on her behalf, wanting to see her get this win.

And what's interesting is, I did speak to a probate lawyer on this. And she said this is a very important step in the right direction. And she told me that the writing is on the wall when it comes to this conservatorship eventually ending. And I thought that was a bit surprising. Because it was the first time that I really heard an expert on this saying, there is going to be an end to this.

And she said it's because of two reasons. One, it's great that Brittany got what she wanted. She's-- her voice is finally being heard. But number two, the fact that the courts allowed her to make this decision, they indirectly proved that she is capable of entering into a contract.

Usually, when you're under a conservatorship, you're deemed capable of making that kind of connection. You're incapable of making decisions. But because of this, because she's able to choose her own attorney, that sets up that argument that she shouldn't be under the confines of this conservatorship any longer. So this is one chapter in her story that is definitely going to continue.

AKIKO FUJITA: So Allie, what does this ultimately mean for the case? What are we expecting next?

ALEXANDRA CANAL: So next, as I said, Mathew Rosengart is going to file that petition to end the conservatorship. Likely, after that, her father Jamie Spears will file an objection. They will then go into negotiations. And then it could potentially get uglier and uglier and even lead to a jury trial. If it were to go to a jury trial, I think that would be very interesting to watch, especially considering the public interest in this case.

But the lawyer that I spoke with did tell me this is going to be a very lengthy process, possibly several years. There's also various directions that this could go. For example, the judge could say, OK, Britney, you don't need a conservator of your person anymore. But you do need a conservator of your financial estate, of your $60 million fortune because of X, Y, Z. So that's a possibility as well.

There's also the possibility that there could be a two-part litigation here. After the conservatorship, maybe they want to go ahead and go after all of the people that have wronged Britney throughout the course of this 13-year arrangement. And if that happens, you could see some of those fees get taken away.

So really, the situation is likely to get ugly. It's likely to drag on. And there's a lot of possibilities here. And we're going to have to wait and see. But the next hearing is September 29th. And likely, prior to that, we'll see the formal petition be filed. And that's really the most immediate move that we will see in the coming weeks.

ZACK GUZMAN: All right, Allie Canal bringing us the latest there on the Britney watch as we get those updates. Appreciate that.