Laura Kotelman, Paul Kotelman v. Farm Bureau Financial Services

District Court, D. South Dakota·Decided November 5, 2025·No. 4:24-cv-04066·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF SOUTH DAKOTA SOUTHERN DIVISION

LAURA KOTELMAN, PAUL KOTELMAN, 4:24-CV-04066-RAL Plaintiffs, OPINION AND ORDER ON PENDING vs. MOTIONS FARM BUREAU FINANCIAL SERVICES, Defendant. □

Following a dispute over insurance coverage for residential property roof damage, Plaintiffs Laura Kotelman and Paul Kotelman (the Kotelmans) filed a Complaint against Defendant Farm Bureau Financial Services (Farm Bureau) invoking diversity jurisdiction and seeking damages for breach of contract and bad fatth, as well as a declaratory judgment requiring

Farm Bureau “to remit at least the $423,100 in dwelling coverage available under the Policy to the Kotelmans.” Doc. 1; see also Doc. 13 (Amended Complaint). Farm Bureau filed a motion to dismiss, Doc. 8, which was denied by the Honorable Lawrence L. Piersol on December 5, 2024.

Doc. 19. On April 1, 2025, the Kotelmans filed a motion to compel Farm Bureau to provide sufficient responses to four of their interrogatories and nine of their requests for production. Doc. 27. On July 8, as the motion was still pending, the Kotelmans filed an unopposed motion to amend the scheduling order. Doc. 39. Judge Piersol granted the motion to amend and extended the

discovery deadline to October 15, 2025, and the motions deadline to November 21, 2025. Doc. 40. On August 26, before a ruling on the motion to compel, Farm Bureau filed a motion for summary judgment. Doc. 41. Farm Bureau also filed a motion to exclude the expert testimony of the Kotelmans’ structural engineering expert, Keith Stroh. Doc. 45. Shortly thereafter, the Kotelmans disclosed Stroh’s rebuttal report, which prompted Farm Bureau to file a motion to strike the rebuttal report as untimely. Doc. 47. On September 8, the Kotelmans moved this Court under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(d) to request denial of Farm Bureau’s motion for summary judgment while discovery is ongoing. Doc. 50. The Kotelmans filed a response to Farm Bureau’s statement of material facts and memoranda in opposition to Farm Bureau’s motion for summary judgment, motion to exclude expert testimony, and motion to strike the rebuttal report. Docs. 53, 54,55. Farm Bureau subsequently filed replies to each of the memoranda in opposition. Docs. 57, 58, 59. Farm Bureau opposes the Kotelmans’ motion for relief pursuant to Rule 56(d). Doc. 60. On October 22, 2025, following a hearing, Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno issued an order granting in part and denying in part the Kotelmans’ motion to compel, Doc. 27. Doc. 65. Judge Moreno ordered that Farm Bureau provide sufficient responses to the following: (1) Interrogatory 3 as limited in chronological and geographic scope; (2) Interrogatory 5, which will be satisfied if Farm Bureau verifies that it is not aware of any documents in the possession of others; (3) Interrogatory 7 as limited in chronological scope; (4) Interrogatory 10 as limited in scope to roof damage claims only; (5) Request for Production (RFP) 4 as modified to exclude certain personal and identifying information; (6) RFP 9, which will be satisfied if Farm Bureau is willing to verify it does not have, and has never had such documents since 2020; (7) RFP 11 as

.

limited in chronological and geographic scope; (8) RFP 12 as limited in chronological and geographic scope; (9) RFP 14 as limited in scope to roof damage claims only; (10) RFP 19 as limited to homeowners’ claims since 2020 and redacting personal information; (11) RFP 23 as limited in chronological scope; (12) RFP 24 as limited to materials related to homeowner’s insurance since 2020; and (13) RFP 25 as limited to newsletters that mention or discuss homeowner’s insurance since 2020. Id. at 2-7. Judge Moreno denied the Kotelmans’ request for an award of attorney’s fees pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(5) because “although the Kotelmans [had] prevailed in large part, they did not do so without limitations and carveouts.” Id. at 7-8. Judge Moreno ordered Farm Bureau to respond to these interrogatories and RFPs by January 2, 2026. Id. at 8. This Court now rules on the remaining pending motions. L Motion for Relief Pursuant to Rule 56(d) The Kotelmans have moved pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(d) to seek denial of Farm Bureau’s motion for summary judgment as premature, coming while discovery is ongoing. Doc. 50, Farm Bureau opposes this motion. Doc. 60. Summary judgment is proper “only after the nonmovant has had adequate time for discovery.” Hamilton v. Banes, McCullen, Butler, Foye & Simmons, L.L.P., 687 F.3d 1045, 1049 (8th Cir. 2012) (cleaned up and citation omitted). Rule 56(d) allows a court to “defer considering a summary judgment motion or allow time for discovery ‘[i]f a nonmovant shows by affidavit or declaration that, for specific reasons, it cannot present facts essential to justify its opposition.’” Anzaldua v. Ne. Ambulance & Fire Prot, Dist., 793 F.3d 822, 836 (8th Cir. 2015) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(d)). A party requesting discovery under Rule 56(d) must show: “(1) that they have set forth in affidavit form the specific facts that they hope to elicit from further discovery, (2) that the facts sought exist, and (3) that these sought-after facts are essential to resist the summary

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Laura Kotelman, Paul Kotelman v. Farm Bureau Financial Services, (D.S.D. 2025).

Laura Kotelman, Paul Kotelman v. Farm Bureau Financial Services (Laura Kotelman, Paul Kotelman v. Farm Bureau Financial Services) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
509 U.S. 579 (Supreme Court, 1993)
General Electric Co. v. Joiner
522 U.S. 136 (Supreme Court, 1997)
Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael
526 U.S. 137 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Fred Lauzon v. Senco Products, Inc.
270 F.3d 681 (Eighth Circuit, 2001)
Randy Russell v. Whirlpool Corp.
702 F.3d 450 (Eighth Circuit, 2012)
Sappington v. Skyjack, Inc.
512 F.3d 440 (Eighth Circuit, 2008)
Wegener v. Johnson
527 F.3d 687 (Eighth Circuit, 2008)
Sancom, Inc. v. Qwest Communications Corp.
683 F. Supp. 2d 1043 (D. South Dakota, 2010)
Scott Johnson v. Mead Johnson & Company
754 F.3d 557 (Eighth Circuit, 2014)
Carol Marmo v. Tyson Fresh Meats
457 F.3d 748 (Eighth Circuit, 2006)
Geico Cas. Co. v. Isaacson
932 F.3d 721 (Eighth Circuit, 2019)
John Marlow v. City of Clarendon
78 F.4th 410 (Eighth Circuit, 2023)