Law360, New York (October 5, 2016, 9:24 AM EDT) -- Until very recently, it was not controversial to claim that shareholder litigation had entered a period of crisis. A significant majority of deals involving publicly traded corporations (most of which are organized in Delaware) were challenged in litigation, and to make matters worse, much of that litigation was multijurisdictional. In large part, this resulted from the ability of plaintiffs firms to secure fee awards in connection with settlements that included no monetary relief. In a typical "disclosure-only settlement," defendants agreed to provide additional, deal-related disclosures in exchange for a very broad release. With the cooperation of released defendants, plaintiffs counsel could secure a fee award by characterizing the disclosures as a corporate benefit....