The lawyer out to derail the Britney Spears conservatorship case now says Britney herself called him and asked him to take legal action.

The question is, will a federal judge buy that?

Attorney John Eardley filed papers in federal court Thursday, alleging the California courts have railroaded the singer with the conservatorship.

Eardley told TMZ directly that Britney called him, but would not disclose the circumstances surrounding the alleged call or what she said.

But we do know these facts:

1. Michael Sands, PR guru and former spokesperson for Kevin Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, is now the mouthpiece for Eardley.
2. Michael Sands also represents none other than Sam Lutfi.
3. Sam Lutfi has recently been hit with a restraining order barring him from any and all contact with Britney Spears.

Therefore, while we cannot prove Sam Lutfi and Michael Sands are behind the case Eardley is trying to make, well... come on, of course they are.

John Eardley also claims that Britney Spears didn't sign a retainer agreement for his services because she is currently being "held hostage" in her own home.

That's a wee bit dramatic if you ask us. Her father, Jamie Spears, and her brother, Bryan Spears, are doing what they can to protect her while she's receiving vital bipolar disorder treatments, but she's hardly been imprisoned.

The bizarre thing? Merely by filing the paperwork in federal court, Eardley has paralyzed the California legal system from issuing more orders regarding Brit's estate until the Federal judge tells Eardley to beat it.

Stay tuned.