Millard Gutter Company v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company

Filing 40

ORDER - This matter is before the court on the recommendations of the Special Master. The court finds the recommendations should be adopted. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties shall following the deadlines and discovery plan as set forth in this Order. Ordered by Senior Judge Joseph F. Bataillon. (TCL)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

MILLARD GUTTER COMPANY, a
Corporation;
8:15CV406
Plaintiff,
ORDER

v.
STATE FARM FIRE AND CASUALTY
COMPANY,
Defendant.

This matter is before the court on the recommendations of the Special Master.
The court finds the recommendations should be adopted. Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
February 13, 2017

Spreadsheet to be completed by plaintiff and
served on defendant and Special Master.

February 20, 2017

Both parties to identify with blind e-mail to
Special Master the names of up to three (3)
homeowner claims they wish to include in
discovery in this process as well as up to three
(3) individuals they wish to depose in each of
the cases identified. If the names of the
individuals are not presently known, the title of
the individual will be substituted to the extent
possible.
Parties will also serve Requests for Production
of Documents ("Initial RFPs") by this date in
each of the up to three (3) cases they identify
as wanting to conduct discovery in.

February 27, 2017

Deadline for defendant to supplement plaintiff's
spreadsheet.
Parties are to submit whatever Requests for
Production ("Backside RFPs") they choose in

the cases identified by the other party as one
to be included in the discovery. As an example,
if plaintiff were to identify the Hanson case as
one they wish to conduct discovery in, plaintiff
would serve the Initial RFP from the Hanson
file on 2/20/17. Defendant would then produce
its Backside RFP for documents possessed by
plaintiff in the Hanson file by 2/27/17
March 2, 2017

Objections to initial RFPs due.

March 9, 2017

Objections to Backside RFPs due.

March 20, 2017

All discovery responses due that were not
objected to or have been ruled on by the Court.

April 10, 2017

Depositions to start.

May 19, 2017

Depositions to conclude.

June 6, 2017

Deposition summaries, if any, due to Special
Master.

June 19, 2017

Parties and Special Master will convene in
Omaha, Nebraska, at 9:00 a.m. at a place to
be determined for purposes of "closing
arguments" or any other reason requested by
the Special Master or the parties.

SPREADSHEET:

The spreadsheet to be submitted by plaintiff shall include the following columns:
1. Name of insured;
2. Address of insured;
3. State Farm claim number, if known;
4. Date of loss;
5. Whether plaintiff possesses an Assignment or Authorization to Proceed, or
both, and the date of said document;
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6. Blank column for State Farm response to Column 5;
7. Deductible;
8. Blank column for State Farm response to Column 7;
9. Amount paid by State Farm;
10. Blank column for State Farm response, if necessary, to Column 9;
11. Remaining amount claimed by plaintiff;
12. Breakdown of remaining amount claimed by plaintiff (e.g., amounts claimed
for roof, siding, gutters, windows and miscellaneous);
13. GCOP amount claimed by plaintiff, and whether GCOP has already been
paid by State Farm and, if so, in what amount;
14. Blank column for State Farm response to Column 13;
DISCOVERY:
Discovery will be limited during the next six months to Requests for Production of
Documents ("RFPs") and depositions. If plaintiff seeks defendant's "claim file" it shall be
understood that includes all documents commonly contained within homeowner insurance
claim files, including activity logs.
The parties have been encouraged to limit their discovery to those items reasonably
anticipated as being within the scope of the Court's Memorandum and Order dated
December 22, 2016. Because discovery will be limited to some extent, the parties have
been advised that they may conduct further discovery in their selected three (3) cases and
may re-depose selected individuals in those three (3) cases to a further point and at a later
date as long as such discovery/deposition is not repetitious and redundant of what has
already occurred by that time.

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In addition, at the conclusion of this Special Master process, if this litigation is not
successfully resolved, the parties are not waiving the right to conduct further discovery
involving the six (6) chosen cases as well as the other remaining cases in the approximate
number of 113 (see Ex. "A", attached to plaintiff's Complaint).

DEPOSITIONS:
The deposition summaries to be provided to the Special Master shall include only
that which the providing party wants the Special Master to be aware of from that party's
perspective. It will be incumbent upon each party to identify anything of importance
from the depositions by both recitation of the testimony and cite to the deposition. It is
preferred that such summaries be provided on an ongoing basis as the depositions
occur, rather than all coming at the time discovery closes.
If a party wishes to depose someone who does not reside in the State of
Nebraska, but is a current employee of defendant, the parties are urged to work out a
convenient location for said deposition and travel costs, if any. If the parties are unable
to come to an agreement, they may petition the Court, through the Special Master, for a
ruling on who bears the cost of travel of the witness for such deposition.

Dated this 24th day of January, 2017.

BY THE COURT:
s/ Joseph F. Bataillon
Senior United States District Judge

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