IN RE FARMERS INSURANCE COMPANY WIND/HAIL STORM LITIGATION 2

ORDER OF MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION PANEL
Order Pronounced June 20, 2016
16-0142 	IN RE: FARMERS INSURANCE COMPANY WIND/HAIL STORM
LITIGATION 2
We have been advised that our May 13 order incorrectly stated the dates of the storm
events covered by the captioned motion to transfer. 	We are also advised that settlements and
new filings have changed the number of cases and the dates. 	The May 13 order is withdrawn
and replaced as follows.
In an earlier MDL proceeding (No. 14-0882) we established a three-judge MDL pretrial
court (“MDL 1") for hail and wind damage cases against Farmers Insurance Company that arose
between February 29, 2012 and June 11, 2014. 	On May 13, 2016 we granted a similar MDL
motion covering cases that arose after the MDL 1 time period—that is, for a period beginning on
June 12, 2014 (“MDL 2").
Farmers seeks leave to file Amended Appendix A, which takes account of settlements
and new filings and asks to lengthen the time period from June 12, 2014 through January 8, 2016
(instead of through October 27, 2015 as before). Farmers also asks leave to file an Appendix B,
which lists cases that arose after the June 11, 2014 ending date of that MDL court and were
tagged into MDL 1 by agreement.
Farmers’ motion for leave to file Amended Appendixes A and B is granted. Its motion to
transfer the cases listed in Amended Appendix A is granted. The cases are transferred to MDL 2
as stated below. 	This order encompasses suits arising between June 12, 2014 and January 8,
2016 listed in the Amended Appendix A and all tag-along cases for the stated time period. The
cases listed in Appendix B, which were tagged into MDL 1 by agreement, are transferred to
MDL 2.

A three-judge pretrial MDL court (MDL 2) is established. 	It will be composed of the
same three judges who serve as MDL 1. 	The cases listed in Amended Appendixes A and B of
Farmers Insurance Companies’ Motion to Transfer are transferred to MDL 2, which will consist
of: 	the Hon. Elma Teresa Salinas Ender, retired judge of the 341st District Court of Webb
County; the Hon. David Evans, judge of the 48th District Court of Tarrant County; and the Hon.
Sylvia Matthews, judge of the 281 st District Court of Harris County.
The three pretrial judges will decide all common pretrial issues together as a panel. They
will decide case-specific issues as individual pretrial courts. The issues decided by the panel will
include questions of law, common discovery issues, and rulings on common evidentiary and
other issues remanded for trial. 	The judges will have broad discretion to decide where and when
to hold oral hearings, and whether and when to hear matters by telephone or other electronic
means.
After receiving suggestions from counsel, the pretrial judges of MDL 2 will consider
which cases should be transferred to each of them for case-specific decisions and will make a
written recommendation to this MDL Panel for our decision. All stay orders previously issued
by this panel in this matter are lifted.