392
Opinion of Ginsburg, J.
the settlement, the Delaware lawsuit lay dormant for more than a year.
The federal litigation proceeded. In various rulings, the District Court denied the federal plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment, denied the Epstein plaintiffs' motion for class certification, and granted Matsushita's motion for summary judgment dismissing the claims. On April 15, 1992, the District Court entered its final judgment, which the Epstein plaintiffs appealed to the Ninth Circuit.
On October 22, 1992, after the federal plaintiffs had filed their notice of appeal, the Delaware parties reached a second settlement agreement. Matsushita agreed to create a $2 million settlement fund that would afford shareholders 2 to 3 cents per share before payment of fees and costs. The Delaware class counsel requested $691,000 in fees. In return for this relief, the Delaware plaintiffs agreed to release "all claims, rights and causes of action (state or federal, including but not limited to claims arising under the federal securities laws, and any rules or regulations promulgated thereunder, or otherwise) . . . in connection with or that arise now or hereafter out of the [tender offer] . . . including without limitation the claims asserted in the California Federal Actions . . . ." App. 187-188. Unlike the first settlement proposal, the second agreement included an opt-out provision.
This time the Vice Chancellor approved the settlement. He stated: "[I]t is in the best interests of the class to settle this litigation and the terms of the settlement are fair and reasonable—although the value of the benefit to the class is meager." In re MCA, Inc. Shareholders Litigation, C. A. No. 11740, 1993 WL 43024, *1 (Del. Ch., Feb. 16, 1993). He found the class members' recovery of 2 to 3 cents per share "adequate (if only barely so) to support the proposed settlement." Id., at *4. The federal claims, he reasoned, having been dismissed by the District Court, "now have minimal economic value." Ibid. And he gave weight to the pres-
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