SPEARS' DAD FIGHTING TO KEEP CONTROL

LATEST: BRITNEY SPEARS' father JAMIE is attempting to stop the singer's conservatorship case transferring from state to federal court - insisting the attorney seeking the move doesn't even represent the star.

In court documents filed Tuesday (19Feb08), Spears' father and Andrew Wallet, the other temporary conservator of her estate, branded lawyer Jon Eardley's efforts to present the case before a federal judge "a brazen - but vain - attempt to strip a probate court of jurisdiction by an attorney without a client".

Last week (14Feb08), Eardley filed a legal complaint in U.S. District Court, arguing the case should be moved from Los Angeles Superior Court to a federal court.

Judge Philip Gutierrez has given Eardley, who has practices in New York and Washington, D.C., until 29 February (08) to prove why the ongoing case of the 26-year-old's estate violates her civil rights.

Michael Sands, Eardley's representative, said on Wednesday (20Feb08) that the judge's forthcoming deadline was a "great opportunity" for Eardley to present his "overwhelming evidence" as to why the case belongs in federal court.