Defendant's Attorney: Not Available

Description: New Haven, Connecticut insurance law lawyers represented the Plaintiffs who sued on a bad faith breach of insurance contract theory.


The parties in this class action alleging breach of life insurance policy provisions governing calculation of the “cost of insurance” reached a proposed class settlement earlier this year. I preliminarily approved the proposed settlement, and a final fairness hearing is scheduled for December. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(e). Late last week, I received correspondence regarding a discovery dispute between, on the one hand, the named parties and, on the other, objectors to the proposed class settlement. I attach the correspondence as Exhibit A to this ruling. I assume familiarity with the background and lengthy procedural history of this case and set forth here only so much discussion as is necessary to understand my reasons for denying the objectors' discovery requests.

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On March 8, 2024, the plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary approval of a class settlement and an amended complaint. (ECF Nos. 227, 229.) A few days later, the law firm Susman Godfrey LLP filed a “notice of intent to oppose motion for preliminary approval,” noting that it was court-appointed class counsel in a class action against a subsidiary of Defendant Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (“Lincoln”) pending in the Southern

District of New York and also “court-appointed interim class counsel” in two other related actions against Lincoln and a subsidiary pending in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. (ECF No. 232.) The firm filed its opposition, on behalf of its clients in those actions, at the end of March. (ECF No. 256.) After reviewing the opposition and responses by the named plaintiffs and the defendants, as well as further filings by all involved, I held oral argument on the motion for preliminary approval on July 30, 2024, hearing from the plaintiffs, the objectors, and the defendants. On September 4, I issued a ruling preliminarily certifying the proposed class, appointing plaintiffs' counsel as class counsel, and granting preliminary approval of the proposed class settlement; I set the fairness hearing for December 16, the objection and opt-out deadline for November 23, and the deadline for the motion for final approval for December 9. (the “Preliminary Approval Ruling,” ECF No. 289; Glover v. Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co., No. 16-cv-827, 2024 WL 4036721 (D. Conn. Sept. 4, 2024).)

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Glover v. Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co., 3:16-cv-00827-MPS (D. Conn. Oct 29, 2024)

Outcome: The Court declined to allow the broad discovery the objectors sought.

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