In Re AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP v. the State of Texas

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 31, 2025·No. 15-25-00088-CV·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED 15-25-00088-CV FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 7/31/2025 12:13 PM No. 15-25-00088-CV CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE CLERK

In the Fifteenth Court of Appeals FILED IN 15th COURT OF APPEALS Austin, Texas AUSTIN, TEXAS 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE In re ASTRAZENECA PHARMACEUTICALS LP, Clerk

Relator.

Original Proceeding from the 71st District Court Harrison County, Texas, Trial Court Cause No. 22-0426, Honorable Brad Morin, Presiding

RELATOR’S NOTICE OF DESIGNATION AND SUBSTITUTION OF LEAD COUNSEL

SCOTT DOUGLASS & MCCONNICO LLP MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP Stephen E. McConnico Heidi Rasmussen State Bar No. 13450300 State Bar No. 24090345 smcconico@scottdoug.com heidi.rasmussen@morganlewis.com Kennon L. Wooten 1000 Louisiana Street, Suite 4000 State Bar No. 24046624 Houston, Texas 77002 kwooten@scottdoug.com (713) 890-5000 303 Colorado Street, Suite 2400 (713) 890-5001 (Fax) Austin, Texas 78701 (512) 495-6300 LEHOTSKY KELLER COHN LLP (512) 495-6399 (Fax) Scott A. Keller State Bar No. 24062822 GILLAM & SMITH LLP scott@lkcfirm.com Melissa R. Smith Andrew B. Davis State Bar No. 24001351 State Bar No. 24082898 melissa@gillamsmithlaw.com Joshua P. Morrow 303 S. Washington Ave. State Bar No. 24106345 Marshall, Texas 75670 408 W. 11th Street, 5th Floor (903) 934-8450 Austin, TX 78701 (903) 934-9257 (Fax) (512) 693-8350 (512) 727-4755 (Fax) Counsel for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP Relator AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP (“AstraZeneca”) designates and

substitutes Scott A. Keller as its lead counsel in this original proceeding.

1. AstraZeneca is the relator in this original proceeding. The respondent

is the Honorable Brad Morin, Judge of the 71st District Court, Harrison County,

Texas. The real parties in interest are: SCEF, LLC; Lynne Levin-Guzman; and the

State of Texas.

2. AstraZeneca’s former lead counsel, William R. Peterson, no longer

practices with the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

3. AstraZeneca filed a motion to withdraw Mr. Peterson as lead counsel

in this original proceeding on July 31, 2025.

4. The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure provide that “a new lead

counsel may be designated by filing a notice.” Tex. R. App. P. 6.1(c).

5. AstraZeneca designates and substitutes the following attorney as its

new lead counsel in this original proceeding:

Scott A. Keller 408 W. 11th Street, 5th Floor Austin, TX 78701 (512) 693-8350 (Tel.) (512) 727-4755 (Fax) scott@lkcfirm.com State Bar No. 24062822

6. The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure provide that “[i]f a new lead

counsel is being designated, both the new attorney and either the party or the former

1 lead counsel must sign the notice.” Tex. R. App. P. 6.1(c). This Notice is signed by

“the new lead counsel” (Scott A. Keller) and “the party” (AstraZeneca). Id.

7. For these reasons, AstraZeneca asks the Court to instruct the clerk to

change the record to reflect that Scott A. Keller is lead counsel for relator

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP in this original proceeding.

/s/ Scott A. Keller /s/ Kevin Jayne Scott A. Keller Kevin Jayne

Lead counsel for relator Senior Counsel for relator AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP

2 Dated: July 31, 2025 Respectfully submitted,

SCOTT DOUGLASS & MCCONNICO LLP LEHOTSKY KELLER COHN LLP Stephen E. McConnico State Bar No. 13450300 /s/ Scott A. Keller smcconico@scottdoug.com Scott A. Keller Kennon L. Wooten State Bar No. 24062822 State Bar No. 24046624 scott@lkcfirm.com kwooten@scottdoug.com Andrew B. Davis 303 Colorado Street, Suite 2400 State Bar No. 24082898 Austin, Texas 78701 Joshua P. Morrow (512) 495-6300 State Bar No. 24106345 (512) 495-6399 (Fax) 408 W. 11th Street, 5th Floor Austin, TX 78701 GILLAM & SMITH LLP (512) 693-8350 Melissa R. Smith (512) 727-4755 (Fax) State Bar No. 24001351 melissa@gillamsmithlaw.com 303 S. Washington Ave. Marshall, Texas 75670 (903) 934-8450 (903) 934-9257 (Fax)

MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP Heidi Rasmussen State Bar No. 24090345 heidi.rasmussen@morganlewis.com 1000 Louisiana Street, Suite 4000 Houston, Texas 77002 (713) 890-5000 (713) 890-5001 (Fax)

Counsel for Relator

3 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE As required by Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 6.3 and 9.5(b), (d), and

(e), I certify that on July 31, 2025, the foregoing Notice was filed with the Clerk of

the Court using the eFileTexas.gov electronic filing system, which will send

notification to the email addresses denoted on the Service Contacts List. I also certify

that a copy of the foregoing Notice was mailed to Respondent by certified mail,

return receipt requested, to 200 West Houston St., Suite 219, Marshall, Texas 75670.

/s/ Scott A. Keller Scott A. Keller

4 Automated Certificate of eService This automated certificate of service was created by the efiling system. The filer served this document via email generated by the efiling system on the date and to the persons listed below. The rules governing certificates of service have not changed. Filers must still provide a certificate of service that complies with all applicable rules.

Joshua Morrow on behalf of Joshua Morrow Bar No. 24106345 josh@lkcfirm.com Envelope ID: 103818607 Filing Code Description: Other Document Filing Description: Notice of Designation and Substitution of Lead Counsel Status as of 7/31/2025 12:25 PM CST

Case Contacts

Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status

Kennon L.Wooten kwooten@scottdoug.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Angela Goldberg agoldberg@scottdoug.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Jonathan Wilkerson 24050162 jonathan.wilkerson@lanierlawfirm.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Melissa Smith 24001351 melissa@gillamsmithlaw.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

William Peterson 24065901 willpete@gmail.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Samuel Baxter 1938000 sbaxter@mckoolsmith.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Brian McBride 24002554 scott.mcbride@morganlewis.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Zeke DeRose 24057421 zeke.derose@lanierlawfirm.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Jennifer Truelove 24012906 jtruelove@mckoolsmith.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Alex Brown 24026964 alex.brown@lanierlawfirm.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Lynne Kurtz-Citrin 24081425 lynne.kurtz-citrin@oag.texas.gov 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Jonathan Bonilla 24073939 Jonathan.Bonilla@hhs.texas.gov 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

W. Mark Lanier 11934600 jrm@lanierlawfirm.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Heidi Rasmussen 24090345 heidi.rasmussen@morganlewis.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Nadia Burns 24041176 nadia.burns@oag.texas.gov 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Ruth Adams radams@scottdoug.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Steve McConnico smcconnico@scottdoug.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Jordan Kadjar jkadjar@scottdoug.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

John Dodds john.dodds@morganlewis.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Erica Jaffe erica.jaffe@morganlewis.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

W. Mark Lanier WML@LanierLawFirm.com 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT

Vivian Egbu vivian.egbu@oag.texas.gov 7/31/2025 12:13:51 PM SENT Automated Certificate of eService This automated certificate of service was created by the efiling system. The filer served this document via email generated by the efiling system on the date and to the persons listed below. The rules governing certificates of service have not changed. Filers must still provide a certificate of service that complies with all applicable rules.

Joshua Morrow on behalf of Joshua Morrow Bar No.

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