Date: 08-25-2023

Case Style:

Katelyn Wills v. Brett Stiles and LM General Insurance Company

Case Number: 5:22-CV-06141

Judge: Roseann A. Ketchmark

Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (Buchanan County)

Plaintiff's Attorney:

Ken Siemens, Ben Creddy, and Mike Taylor

Defendant's Attorney:

Thomas Hershewe for Brett Stiles

Sarah Lynn Baltzell, Doug Beck, and Taylor Markway

Description: Kansas City, Missouri personal injury lawyers represented Plaintiff who sued Defendants on auto negligence and insurance law theories.


This case arose from a motor vehicle collision between Plaintiff Katelyn Wills and Defendant Brett Stiles in September 2016. In May 2020, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Defendant Stiles in Missouri state court for negligence, which was tried to a jury in May 2022, resulting in a verdict in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant Stiles in the amount of $625,000, plus costs and post-judgement interest.

Plaintiff brought garnishment and equitable garnishment claims seeking to have the insurance policy issued by Defendant LM to Defendant Stiles applied to the judgment Plaintiff obtained against Defendant Stiles. This case was filed in the Circuit Court of Buchanan County, Missouri, on August 24, 2022. Defendant Stiles filed an amended answer and crossclaim against LM for bad faith refusal/failure to settle on October 13, 2022. LM filed an amended answer and counterclaims against Plaintiff for abuse of process and wrongful garnishment on November 7, 2022, claiming that Plaintiff is not seeking to obtain insurance proceeds owed by LM under the relevant policy for the underlying judgment, as LM has already paid all insurance proceeds capable of garnishment, but is instead seeking a collateral result that garnishment is not intended to effect. On December 7, 2022, Plaintiff filed a “reply to Defendant LM General Insurance Company's affirmative defenses and Plaintiff's answer to Defendant LM General Insurance Company's Counterclaims. That filing also contains “Counterclaims” against Defendant LM for bad faith and attachment.

Outcome: Accordingly, and after careful consideration, Plaintiff's motion to remand, vacate, and for extension of time (Doc.)22 is:

(1) GRANTED in part, to the extent that Plaintiff is ORDERED to file a substantive response to Defendant LM's motion for summary judgment (Doc. 18) on or before September 1, 2023; and

(2) DENIED in all other respects.

IT IS SO ORDERED.
Wills v. Stiles (W.D. Mo. 2023)

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: