Shareholder lawsuits: “Shark Attack”

The Economist on “Why American firms cannot do deals without being sued”:

In 2005, 39% of M&A deals were challenged by lawsuits, one study found. By 2011 a hefty 96% of acquisitions worth more than $500m were attracting suits…

J. Travis Laster of Delaware’s Chancery Court [has] become an outspoken public critic of “worthless”, “sue-on-every-deal” lawsuits. In March he told one group of plaintiffs’ lawyers: “I don’t think for a moment that 90%—or based on recent numbers, 95%—of deals are the result of a breach of fiduciary duty.”

Shareholder lawsuits: “Shark Attack” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system