In the Guardianship of Landen Thomas Griswold, an Incapacitated Person v. the State of Texas

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided May 9, 2025·No. 15-25-00017-CV·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED

15-25-00017-CV

FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 5/9/2025 11:27 AM

No. 15-25-00017-CV CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE ______________________________ CLERK FILED IN

In the Court of Appeals 15th COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS

for the Fifteenth Judicial District 5/9/2025 11:27:30 AM ______________________________ CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE Clerk

I N THE G UARDIANSHIP OF L ANDEN T HOMAS G RISWOLD , AN I NCAPACITATED P ERSON

On Appeal from Cause No. G00074 County Court at Law Cherokee County, Texas

APPELLEE’S UNOPPOSED MOTION TO WITHDRAW AND NOTICE OF LEAD COUNSEL

Appellee, Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), files this

Unopposed Motion to Withdraw and Notice of Lead Counsel and, in support, shows

the Court the following:

1. The current counsel on behalf of Appellee is Reed Arroyo.

2. Mr. Arroyo has accepted a position outside of the Office of the Attorney

General of Texas and requests to withdraw from this case. Appellee designates Terri

M. Abernathy as new lead counsel. Ms. Abernathy is licensed to practice law in the

state of Texas and is a member in good standing of the State Bar of Texas. Ms.

Abernathy’s contact information is as follows:

Terri M. Abernathy Assistant Attorney General

Texas State Bar No. 24062894 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS General Litigation Division P.O. Box 12548 Austin, Texas 78711 Phone (512) 936-0562 Division Fax (512) 320-0667 Email terri.abernathy@oag.texas.gov

3. Appellee respectfully requests the Court remove Mr. Arroyo as counsel

of record and attorney-in-charge for this cause.

4. The undersigned has conferred with counsel for Appellant, who

indicated they are unopposed to the withdrawal of Mr. Arroyo and substitution of

Ms. Abernathy as attorney-in-charge for Appellee.

PRAYER

Appellee requests that Ms. Abernathy be added to all future correspondence

and notifications of filings in this matter and be substituted as lead counsel, and that

Mr. Arroyo be removed as counsel of record.

Respectfully submitted,

KEN PAXTON Attorney General of Texas

BRENT WEBSTER First Assistant Attorney General

RALPH MOLINA Deputy First Assistant Attorney General

AUSTIN KINGHORN Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation

KIMBERLY GDULA Chief, General Litigation Division

/s/ Reed Arroyo____________________ REED ARROYO Assistant Attorney General Texas Bar No. 24143565 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS General Litigation Division P.O. Box 12548 Austin, Texas 78711 Phone (512) 475-4072 Division Fax (512) 320-0667 Email Reed.Arroyo@oag.texas.gov

TERRI M. ABERNATHY Assistant Attorney General Texas Bar No. 24122680 Attorney-in-Charge OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS General Litigation Division P.O. Box 12548 Austin, Texas 78711 Phone (512) 936-0562 Division Fax (512) 320-0667 Email Terri.Abernathy@oag.texas.gov Counsel for Appellees

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

On May 8, 2025, the undersigned conferred with lead counsel for Appellant, Tracia Lee, who stated Appellant is unopposed to the relief requested.

/s/ Reed Arroyo____________________ REED ARROYO Assistant Attorney General

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing instrument has been filed electronically through the electronic-filing manager on May 9, 2025 causing e-service to all counsel of record as follows:

Tracia Y. Lee Tracia.Lee@keanmiller.com Laurel M. Smith Laurel.Smith@keanmiller.com Kean Miller, LLP Pennzoil South Tower 711 Louisiana Street, Suite 1800 Houston, Texas 77002 Phone (713) 844-3000 e-serve@keanmiller.com

/s/ Reed Arroyo REED ARROYO Assistant Attorney General

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.

Tristan Garza on behalf of Reed Arroyo Bar No. 24143565 tristan.garza@oag.texas.gov Envelope ID: 100646096 Filing Code Description: Motion Filing Description: APPELLEES UNOPPOSED MOTION TO WITHDRAW AND NOTICE OF LEAD COUNSEL Status as of 5/9/2025 12:31 PM CST

Associated Case Party: Texas Health and Human Services Commission

Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status

Jonathan Petix 24027728 jonathan.petix@hhs.texas.gov 5/9/2025 11:27:30 AM SENT

Alyssa Bixby-Lawson 24122680 anknutson@gmail.com 5/9/2025 11:27:30 AM SENT

Tristan AGarza tristan.garza@oag.texas.gov 5/9/2025 11:27:30 AM SENT

Terri Abernathy terri.abernathy@oag.texas.gov 5/9/2025 11:27:30 AM SENT

Quennette Rose Quennette.Rose@oag.texas.gov 5/9/2025 11:27:30 AM SENT

Reed Arroyo reed.arroyo@oag.texas.gov 5/9/2025 11:27:30 AM SENT

Associated Case Party: Candice Jeffcoat

Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status

Tracia Lee e-serve@keanmiller.com 5/9/2025 11:27:30 AM SENT

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In the Guardianship of Landen Thomas Griswold, an Incapacitated Person v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2025).

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