Leonard v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York
- Alvin Hellerstein
- 1:18-cv-04994
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Leonard v. John Hancock, Judge Hellerstein ordered production of settlement agreements but denied broader communications access and imposed future-contact rules.
The order affects the defendants, putative class members, their counsel, and interim class counsel by requiring production of settlement agreements and regulating future settlement communications.
What happened
Leonard v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York concerns the scope of defendants’ production of communications with people who might join the proposed class. The parties asked the court to resolve the issue in a joint letter.
The court ordered the defendants to produce all settlement agreements with putative class members. It denied the plaintiffs’ motion as to all other communications.
Judge Hellerstein also set rules for future settlement contacts: defendants may approach putative class members only through those individuals’ lawyers, must identify interested individuals to interim class counsel at least seven days before substantive discussions, and must allow contacted individuals to seek access to information marked confidential under the protective order.
The detailed version
- Leonard v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York · No. 1:18-cv-04994
- Alvin Hellerstein
- Nov. 20, 2019
Background
The parties submitted a joint letter dated November 8, 2019, asking the court to decide the scope of the defendants’ production of communications between the defendants and putative class members. A putative class member is someone who may be included in the proposed class but whose membership has not been finally determined.
Ruling on Production
The court ordered the defendants to produce all settlement agreements with putative class members. It denied the plaintiffs’ motion with respect to all other communications.
Rules for Future Communications
The court ordered that the following conditions apply going forward:
- The defendants may communicate with putative class members through those individuals’ counsel to determine whether they are interested in discussing settlement. The defendants may approach putative class members only through the putative class members’ counsel.
- Once the defendants determine that a putative class member is interested in discussing settlement, they must identify that person to interim class counsel at least seven days before beginning substantive discussions.
- A putative class member contacted by defense counsel may apply to the court through interim class counsel or through the person’s own counsel to view information designated “Confidential” under the Stipulated Confidentiality Agreement and Protective Order.
The order cited earlier rulings in American Realty Capital Properties, Inc. Litigation, No. 15-mc-40 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 15, 2019), and Dial Corp. v. News Corp., No. 13-cv-6802, 2015 WL 9256930, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 16, 2015), as consistent with these conditions.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.