A recent decision from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York represents a significant further development in extending into federal court the Delaware Chancery Court’s resistance to disclosure-only settlements in the M&A litigation context.  Plaintiff stockholders in a M&A target company often file lawsuits challenging disclosures made to them in proxy statements soliciting support for the M&A transaction.  Such suits have served as a vehicle for plaintiff lawyers to collect fees when they are “mooted” by the target company making additional disclosures in response to the lawsuit. The cases are very rarely litigated, allowing plaintiff lawyers to collect fees for limited effort and little risk. (more…)