IN RE HARVEY SAND LITIGATION

ORDER OF MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION PANEL
Order Pronounced August 7, 2020
OVERRULING OBJECTIONS TO ASSIGNMENT OF PRETRIAL JUDGE
AND CONFIRMING AND RATIFYING PRIOR ORDERS:
19-0500 	IN RE HARVEY SAND LITIGATION
1. On May 7, 2020, the full Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Panel issued its order granting
the motion to transfer to a pretrial court "those cases listed in the Second Amended
Appendix A to the Second Supplemental Motion for Transfer, filed on or about March 17,
2020, as supplemented, together with tag-along cases filed against the Harvey Sand
Defendants that relate to the flooding that occurred from Hurricane Harvey along and
around the San Jacinto River Basin in and near Houston, Texas, in August 2017," with a
pretrial judge to be named later.
2. On July 20, 2020, the full MDL Panel designated the 281st District Court as the Pretrial
Court and assigned the Honorable Sylvia Mathews to serve as the Pretrial Judge.
3. On July 27, 2020, in three different filings, various Plaintiffs objected to the assignment
of Judge Mathews as the Pretrial Judge and further objected to Justice Ken Wise serving
on the MDL panel in this litigation.
4. 	On July 29, 2020, a defense response was filed regarding the objections to Judge
Mathews as the Pretrial Judge.
5. 	On July 30, 2020, Justice Wise ordered his own recusal from the MDL panel in this
litigation.
The remaining MDL Panel (sans Justice Wise), having considered the above, does hereby:
A. Confirm and ratify the May 7, 2020, order, which granted the motion to transfer,
B. Overrule all three of the July 27, 2020, objections to the assignment of Judge
Mathews as the Pretrial Judge, and
C. Confirm and ratify the July 20, 2020, order, which assigned Judge Mathews as
the Pretrial Judge.
PER CURIAM