Time To End “Racket” of “Worthless” M&A Securities Lawsuits, Judge Says

U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin ordered plaintiffs’ attorneys to return over $322,000 in fees to the company they sued because their complaints should have been tossed from court, Reuters reports.

Alison Frankel of Reuters said the decision could “could turn out to be a milestone in M&A shareholder litigation in federal court,” given the rise of merger and acquisition lawsuits and their newfound prevalence in federal courts. She said plaintiffs’ lawyers have found new ways to bring and settle these cases faster, which Judge Durkin said turns “the purpose of Rule 23’s class mechanism on its head.”