Office of the Attorney General of Texas v. James Blake Brickman, David Maxwell, J. Mark Penley, and Ryan M. Vassar

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 4, 2025·No. 15-25-00085-CV·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED 15-25-00085-CV FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 6/4/2025 2:42 PM CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE CLERK June 4, 2025 FILED IN 15th COURT OF APPEALS T.J. Turner AUSTIN, TEXAS tturner@cstrial.com 6/4/2025 2:42:33 PM 512-477-5099 Via Electronic Filing: CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE Clerk

Christopher A. Prine Fifteenth Court of Appeals P.O. Box 12852 Austin, Texas 78711 Telephone: (512) 463-1610

RE: Court of Appeals Number: 15-25-00085-CV Trial Court Case Number: D-1-GN-20-006861

Style: Office of the Attorney General of Texas v. James Blake Brickman, David Maxwell, J. Mark Penley, and Ryan M. Vassar

Dear Mr. Prine:

Counsel for Appellee, David Maxwell files this letter to address the incorrect information included on Appellant’s Docketing Statement filed on May 20, 2025. After review of the Docketing Statement, Counsel noticed that the representation for Appellees David Maxwell and James Blake Brickman were incorrect.

Here are the following corrections to be made on the Docketing Statement filed on May 20, 2025:

1. Remove T.J. Turner with Cain & Skarnulis, PLLC as an attorney for Appellee, James Blake Brickman.

2. Remove Carlos R. Soltero and Gregory P. Saphire with Soltero Saphire Murrell PLLC as attorneys for Appellee, David Maxwell.1

3. Add T.J. Turner as Lead Attorney for Appellee, David Maxwell.

4. Update the address for Cain & Skarnulis, PLLC to 303 Colorado Street, Suite 2850, Austin, Texas 78701.

1 On January 18, 2023, T.J. Turner and Carlos Soltero filed an Unopposed Motion to Withdraw and Substitute

Lead Counsel for Respondent David Maxwell in Cause No. 21-1027 Office of the Attorney General of Texas vs. James Blake Brickman, et al filed in the Supreme Court of Texas. Later that day, the Court filed a letter addressing its review of the Unopposed Motion and granted the substitution of counsel. See Ex. A & B.

303 Colorado Street, Suite 2850 ï Austin, Texas 78701 ï 512-477-5000 ï 512-477-5011 fax ï www.cstrial.com June 4, 2025 Page 2

Sincerely,

T.J. Turner

TJT/jc

CC: w/enclosures:

Carlos Ramon Soltero SOLTERO SAPHIRE MURRELL PLLC 7320 N. Mopac Expy, Ste. 309 Austin, Texas 78731-2311 Email: carlos@ssmlawyers.com

Gregory P. Saphire SOLTERO SAPHIRE MURRELL PLLC 7320 N. Mopac Expy, Ste. 309 Austin, Texas 78731-2311 Email: greg@ssmlawyers.com

Joseph R. Knight EWELL BROWN BLANKE & KNIGHT LLP 111 Congress Avenue, Suite 2800 Austin, Texas 78701-4084 Email: jknight@ebbklaw.com

Don A. Tittle LAW OFFICES OF DON TITTLE, PLLC Lakewood Towers, Suite 440 6301 Gaston Avenue Dallas, Texas 75214 Email: don@dontittlelaw.com

Thomas Andrew Nesbitt NESBITT LEGAL PLLC 809 West Avenue Austin, Texas 78701-2207 Email: tom@nesbittlegal.com June 4, 2025 Page 3

William Helfand OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL P.O. Box 12548 (MC 059) Austin, Texas 78711 Email: Bill.Helfand@lewisbrisbois.com FILED 21-1027 1/18/2023 11:16 AM tex-71892097 SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS No. 21-1027 BLAKE A. HAWTHORNE, CLERK

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS, Petitioner

JAMES BLAKE BRICKMAN, ET AL., Respondents

On Petition for Review from the Third Court of Appeals, Austin

UNOPPOSED MOTION TO WITHDRAW AND SUBSTITUTE LEAD COUNSEL FOR RESPONDENT DAVID MAXWELL

Carlos R. Soltero T.J. Turner State Bar No. 00791702 State Bar No. 24043967 carlos@ssmlawyers.com tturner@cstrial.com Gregory P. Sapire CAIN & SKARNULIS PLLC State Bar No. 00791601 303 Colorado Street, Suite 2850 greg@ssmlawyers.com Austin, Texas 78701 SOLTERO SAPIRE MURRELL PLLC 512-477-5000 7320 N Mopac Suite 309 512-477-5011—Facsimile Austin, Texas 78731 512-422-1559 512-359-7996—Facsimile

EXHIBIT ATTORNEYS FOR RESPONDENT A TO THE HONORABLE SUPREME COURT:

Respondent David Maxwell (Respondent Maxwell) files this

Unopposed Motion to Withdraw and Substitute Lead Counsel and respectfully

requests the substitution of his current counsel—Carlos R. Soltero and the law firm

of Soltero Sapire Murrell PLLC—for his new counsel—T.J. Turner with the firm

Cain & Skarnulis PLLC—as Respondent Maxwell’s counsel of record pursuant to

TX Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 6.5. In support of this Motion,

Respondent Maxwell shows the Court the following:

1. Respondent Maxwell has been represented by Carlos R. Soltero and other

attorneys at the law firm of Soltero Sapire Murrell PLLC. Mr. Maxwell has retained

new counsel to represent his interests in this case, T.J. Turner with the firm Cain &

Skarnulis PLLC. Mr. Turner is admitted to practice law in the state of Texas and has

consented to serve as counsel for Mr. Maxwell in this proceeding.

2. Respondent Maxwell respectfully requests that Carlos R. Soltero and

the law firm of Soltero Sapire Murrell PLLC be allowed to withdraw as counsel, and

that the following be substituted as lead counsel of record for Respondent Maxwell

in this matter:

T.J. Turner State Bar No. 24043967 tturner@cstrial.com

2 CAIN & SKARNULIS PLLC 303 Colorado Street, Suite 2850 Austin, Texas 78701 512-477-5000 512-477-5011—Facsimile

3. Respondent Maxwell would show that substitution of the undersigned

will not prejudice any party.

4. Respondent Maxwell’s Withdrawing Counsel does not oppose the

substitution, as indicated by the signature below.

5. There are no currently pending deadlines or settings in the case. The

withdrawal of Respondent Maxwell’s Withdrawing Counsel and substitution of

Respondent Maxwell’s Substituting Counsel are not sought for delay only.

6. Respondent Maxwell’s Substituting Counsel intend for this Motion to

also serve as the Substituting Counsel’s Notice of Appearance in this lawsuit.

PRAYER

For these reasons, Respondent David Maxwell requests that the Court grant

this Motion, permit the substitution of T.J. Turner with the law firm Cain & Skarnulis

PLLC as his new lead counsel of record, and permit the withdrawal of Carlos R.

Soltero and the law firm of Soltero Sapire Murrell PLLC.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Carlos R. Soltero with permission Carlos R. Soltero State Bar No. 00791702 carlos@ssmlawyers.com

3 Gregory P. Sapire State Bar No. 00791601 greg@ssmlawyers.com SOLTERO SAPIRE MURRELL PLLC 7320 N Mopac Suite 309 Austin, Texas 78731 512-422-1559 512-359-7996—Facsimile

/s/ T.J. Turner T.J. Turner State Bar No. 24043967 tturner@cstrial.com CAIN & SKARNULIS PLLC 303 Colorado Street, Suite 2850 Austin, Texas 78701 512-477-5000 512-477-5011—Facsimile

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

On January 10, 2023, the undersigned conferred with opposing counsel by email, who stated that Petitioner is unopposed to the relief requested in this motion.

/s/ T.J. Turner T.J. Turner

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that a true and correct copy of Respondent’s Unopposed Motion to Withdraw and Substitute Lead Counsel has been forwarded to all counsel of record in accordance with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure on this 18th day of January 2023, via efiletxcourts.gov.

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:

Kiara Dial on behalf of Thomas Turner Bar No. 24043967 kdial@cstrial.com Envelope ID: 71892097 Status as of 1/18/2023 11:32 AM CST

Associated Case Party: James BlakeBrickman

Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status

Thomas ANesbitt tnesbitt@dnaustin.com 1/18/2023 11:16:56 AM SENT

TJ Turner I I tturner@cstrial.com 1/18/2023 11:16:56 AM I I SENT

Associated Case Party: J. MarkPenley

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