Hilton v. I Will Painting reset by agreement to Jan. 26 with Feb. 23 backup

At an Oct. 6 jury-docket call in Travis County, attorneys for Estella Hilton and defendant I Will Painting and Remodeling agreed to remove the case from the Oct. 6 jury docket and reset the trial to Jan. 26, 2026, with a backup date of Feb. 23, 2026. Defense counsel Jason Bath said two defense expert depositions remained incomplete, including a pain-management expert, Dr. Natalia Schwartz, who was hospitalized and had uncertain availability. Bath said the defense “may have to ask for leave of court to try to replace him” if Schwartz remains unavailable. Plaintiff counsel John Abramowitz confirmed he would be willing to proceed without the unavailable expert but said he preferred to depose Dr. Schwartz before trial because the expert’s report contains complex opinions. After discussion, the parties agreed to the Jan. 26 reset and a Feb. 23 backup; Judge Amy Clark Meacham directed them to confirm the change with court administration. Meacham told counsel to copy court-management director Jacob Stokes (Jacob.Stokes@TravisCountytx.gov) on any scheduling correspondence. The judge removed the Oct. 6 date from the parties’ calendars and said court administration would record the reset.