Natalie Malonis, ad litem for Teresa Jeffs, requested that 51st District Judge Barbara Walther meet with the teen privately to hear why she wants Malonis to step aside. That hearing is set for Monday afternoon.

Malonis also has filed two motions asking the judge to stop two other attorneys participating in the child welfare case involving Jeffs.

A rift between Malonis and Jeffs, 16, became public last month after the Flower Mound, Texas, attorney sought a temporary restraining order to keep a FLDS sect spokesman away from the girl.

Malonis claimed FLDS member Willie Jessop was influencing Jeffs, who had written to 51st District Judge Barbara Walther asking for a new attorney.

In her letter, Jeffs said she had been at odds with Malonis since May and that their relationship was unworkable.

Her mother, Annette Jeffs, also sought to have Malonis disqualified when it appeared the attorney would testify before a grand jury considering criminal charges against members of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Malonis did not testify.

Walther refused to hear arguments to dismiss Malonis last month, saying they had not been properly filed.

Now, Malonis said Jeffs has "exhibited ambivalence" about continuing to work with her and she wants the judge to settle the matter.

Malonis said her relationship with the teen "is up and down, there are good days and bad days but all-in-all I think it is OK."

In her other filing, Malonis claims attorney Elizabeth "Betsy" Branch has spoken to Jeffs "at least half a dozen times" without her permission or knowledge.

That contact, Malonis contends, is contrary to Jeffs' interest and has disrupted their relationship.

Branch represents one of Jeffs' step-siblings as well as several other FLDS children. The Dallas attorney said she has a right to participate in any hearings involving Jeffs because her client lives in the same household and is "going to be impacted by these rulings that control the family's movement and what the mother can and can't do."

Malonis also claims Alan Futrell is acting "without authority" as counsel for Jeffs and is trying to insert himself in her child welfare case.

The San Antonio attorney is representing Jeffs as a witness in the grand jury proceedings that resume on Tuesday in Schleicher County. Futrell said Jeffs "is entitled to hire any lawyer she wants to to represent her in a pending criminal investigation and she's done that." brooke@sltrib.com