Brit’s lawyer: Keep custody files from DCFS

Attorney says details of case could leak out if agency reviews papers

An attorney for Britney Spears wants to keep the Department of Children and Family Services from reviewing filings from the star’s custody case, citing fears that details of the case could leak out.

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updated 9:09 p.m. ET Nov. 26, 2007

LOS ANGELES - An attorney for Britney Spears asked a court commissioner Monday to keep county authorities from reviewing court filings in the pop star’s child custody dispute, saying it would be best for her two young sons.

The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services is a “large bureaucracy with thousands of employees” where the details of the case could easily leak out, argued Thomas Paine Dunlap, an attorney for Spears.

The department is investigating Spears’ parenting skills. Ex-husband Kevin Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, argued that if the court turned files over it should identify and release only relevant issues.

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After Dunlap and Kaplan spoke, an attorney for the department asked for the hearing to be closed, and Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon’s decision was not disclosed.

Spears, 25, and Federline, 29, have wrangled in court over custody issues since they split. Their divorce was final in July.

Among other issues addressed behind closed doors Monday was a new holiday visitation schedule for Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1. No details were released. The boys spent the night before Thanksgiving with their mother and Thanksgiving Day with their father.

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