Lincoln National Life Ins. Co. v. Bezich

Ct. of Appeals lacked jurisdiction to consider petitioner-insurance company's petition for leave to appeal challenging Dist. Ct.'s remand of state-court lawsuit that had been removed under Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) where underlying lawsuit alleged that petitioner breached terms of variable life insurance policies, and where Dist. Ct.'s remand was based on its finding that instant variable life policies were covered under CAFA's exception to federal jurisdiction for lawsuits that solely relate to obligations created by securities covered by Securities Act of 1933. Ct. rejected petitioner's claim that instant policies were not securities due to their hybrid nature after Ct. observed that: (1) every holder of instant policies had right to purchase securities; and (2) instant lawsuit pertained to funds placed into variable life policy account containing securities.