LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge has named an attorney to act as counsel for singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, who's been hospitalized in Los Angeles since March 31, while a longtime friend of the entertainer attempts to become her conservator.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maria Stratton's order appointing lawyer Rebecca Thyne was issued in a one-page document Wednesday. Thyne has power to examine the 71-year-old singer's medical records with or without her client's authority.

The appointment is related to a petition filed Tuesday by Leslie Morris of Sherman Oaks, who says she has known Mitchell for 44 years. She wants to be named Mitchell's conservator so she can make legal and medical decisions on the singer's behalf. Thyne will be able to act on Mitchell's behalf while having access to her medical records.

A hearing on Morris' petition is scheduled July 8.

Morris' petition said Mitchell "remains unconscious and unable to make any responses and is therefore unable to provide for her personal needs." But later that day, a statement was posted on Mitchell's official Twitter page, saying the singer remains hospitalized at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center but is improving - and that Morris was with Mitchell at the hospital and approved the statement.

"Contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet today, Joni is not in a coma. Joni is still in the hospital - but she comprehends, she's alert and she has her full senses. A full recovery is expected."

The statement went on to say that the petition would "simply give(s) her longtime friend Leslie Morris the authority - in the absence of 24-hour doctor care - to make decisions for Joni once she leaves the hospital. As we all know, Joni is a strong-willed woman and is nowhere near giving up the fight."

On March 31, Mitchell was taken to the hospital to undergo tests after collapsing at her Bel Air home, but was "awake and in good spirits," according to a post that night on her Twitter account.

Mitchell was found unconscious at home, but regained consciousness in an ambulance en route to a hospital, according to her website.

Several days later, a posting on the Twitter account said she was improving. Tuesday's post was the first to update her condition since then.