Posts Tagged ‘mark kaplan’

Brit’s Final Custody Hearing Delayed

July 14th, 2008

Britney Spears, her mother Lynne Spears and legal friend Blair Berk were expected to attend the final hearing in Brit’s custody case on Tuesday before her five-day trial begins on August 25. But now OK! has confirmed that the hearing has been delayed until Friday.

The reason? Kevin Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, says he needs the time to prepare.

"It was my idea to delay it for a day," Kaplan told OK! on Monday. "But the next available day for Wasser and I was Friday, simple as that. I think I will know better what is needed to go to trial then, than I do now."

Kaplan says the delay has nothing to do with any kind of settlement.

"It’s more for technical reasons in a complicated case like this," he told OK!. The door is open if [Laura] Wasser and Blair Berk want to walk through it, but there is no delay because of an impending settlement."

A previous mediation to settle Brit’s custody case failed, leaving K-Fed’s option for sole legal and physical custody of their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, on the table.

Court insiders have speculated that the singer could request further mediation to avoid going to trial, and in the meantime may ask for more visitation.

Meanwhile, Kevin and his lawyers are moving full steam ahead in order to win permanent full custody.

"I’m preparing to go to trial until I don’t have a reason to go to trial," Kaplan told OK! on Monday.

OK! Exclusive: No End to Britney Custody Battle in Sight

November 26th, 2007 / Author: cwillett

While many had expected that today’s hearing in the ongoing custody war between Britney Spears and Kevin Federline would be a day with at least a handful of final, definitive rulings handed down from the court, the legal eagle for wannabe rapper K-Fed tells OK! that, in actuality, things are far from over.

“It’s not like in a civil trial where an order will be handed down to resolve the case,” Mark Vincent Kaplan explained to OK! after Monday’s hearing. “In family court, a case can go on as long as the children are minors.”

Well, considering the oldest of the two boys is barely 26 months old, that could mean almost two more decades of courtroom showdowns. Does Kaplan see any hope for a resolution in the near future? “I have to say that much will be resolved at the April hearing when we expect the evaluation will be done,” he tells OK!. “You can’t expect to go to a full hearing if one set of evaluations is not complete.”

Regarding reports that the visitation schedule has been modified to allow Britney to have the boys on Christmas, Kaplan would only say, “I think Kevin would feel it’s absolutely appropriate for both parents to see the kids over the holidays.”

As of now, the lawyers aren’t set to duke it out until after the New Year. But as we’ve seen, that can change in the blink of an eye — or a stoplight.

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