Courthouse News Service reports in "Judge OK's $12 Million Retailer Settlement" that a federal judge in Manhattan has approved a $12 million settlement of a securities fraud class action against directors of The Children's Place, but called the request for $3.24 million in attorney fees "excessive." After two years of litigation, The Children's Place agreed to settle the shareholder class action for $12 million, or $10 to $11.71 per share for each claimant. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin called that amount "fair, reasonable and adequate."  But Scheindlin was less receptive to class counsel's request for 27 percent of the settlement in attorney fees, saying $1.8 million was "more than adequate to compensate class counsel for its effort and reward class counsel for the risk it undertook in litigating the case."