In today's paper, Gina Chon and I wrote about a case in Delware Chancery Court in which a judge awarded $300 million in fees to the plaintiffs' attorneys. We noted it was unusually high. But how unusual? (We speak only of the size of the award, not of the percentage of the judgement the fee represents, which, in this case, is 15%.)

Lawyers we spoke with say the fee appears to be the largest awarded in what's known as a shareholder derivative lawsuit, in which shareholders sue on behalf of a company, and ranks among the largest...