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
- 14
In Leonard v. John Hancock, Judge Hellerstein addressed a request to keep Canadian regulatory information under seal, but the text does not state the motion’s express disposition.
The plaintiffs, John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York and John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), and public access to the identified discovery materials are affected. The text does not clearly state the motion’s final disposition.
What happened
Leonard v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York concerns a class action about John Hancock’s alleged increases to insurance costs and allegedly misleading policy illustrations. The provided document concerns Canadian regulatory information submitted to Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.
John Hancock asked to keep Exhibit A to a joint discovery letter under seal, along with parts of the letter quoting that exhibit. John Hancock argued that Canadian law prohibits disclosure and use of the information, while the plaintiffs argued that the documents were relevant, discoverable under U.S. law, and not protected by an applicable privilege.
The provided text contains a “So ordered” notation signed by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein on January 19, 2021, but it does not expressly say whether the sealing request was granted or denied. It therefore does not provide a clear disposition of the motion.
The detailed version
- Leonard v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York · No. 1:18-cv-04994
- Alvin Hellerstein
- Jan. 19, 2021
Background
The plaintiffs brought a class action concerning John Hancock’s decision to increase cost-of-insurance rates on certain “Performance UL” life-insurance policies issued between 2003 and 2010. The plaintiffs assert breach-of-contract claims and claims under state insurance and consumer-protection laws.
The discovery dispute concerns documents related to submissions to Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. The parties referred to this material as “prescribed supervisory information.” John Hancock previously obtained an order sealing portions of the plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint that quoted this information. The present motion asks to keep under seal Exhibit A to the parties’ December 23, 2020 joint discovery letter and portions of that letter quoting Exhibit A. John Hancock did not seek to seal Exhibit B or the portions of the letter quoting Exhibit B.
Parties’ Positions
The plaintiffs argued that New York law should govern whether the documents are privileged and that the documents should be produced because they are relevant to the alleged cost-of-insurance increase. They also argued that the court’s earlier sealing order did not decide whether the underlying documents were discoverable.
John Hancock argued that the issue was not an evidentiary privilege but whether the court should apply Canadian statutory restrictions that prohibit disclosure and use of prescribed supervisory information in civil proceedings. John Hancock relied on a multi-factor international-comity analysis and argued that Canada’s regulatory interests, the nature of the private lawsuit, and the documents’ assertedly limited importance weighed against compelling production.
Court Action and Disposition
The provided text includes a “So ordered” notation signed by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein and dated January 19, 2021. However, the text supplied does not include an express statement granting, denying, or otherwise disposing of the motion to maintain material under seal. The court’s precise disposition therefore cannot be determined from this excerpt.
The document concerns sealing and discovery, not a final decision on the plaintiffs’ contract, insurance, or consumer-protection claims. On the available text, the matter is classified as a procedural order.
Read the full 14-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.