Calif. Microsoft payday, cont’d

More scrutiny of that request for a bodacious $258 million in fees for lawyers who sued Microsoft on behalf of California consumers (see Mar. 31) in what the company says was a piggyback action restating allegations from its federal antitrust case. In defending their request, the lawyers — prepare to shed a tear — say […]

More scrutiny of that request for a bodacious $258 million in fees for lawyers who sued Microsoft on behalf of California consumers (see Mar. 31) in what the company says was a piggyback action restating allegations from its federal antitrust case. In defending their request, the lawyers — prepare to shed a tear — say they had to work on the case over “the entire Thanksgiving holiday weekend” in 2001, among other things. Although Microsoft says it has allocated $1.1 billion to compensate California consumers, it “could end up spending much less. The deal enables anyone who bought a computer in California to get vouchers worth $5 to $29 per Microsoft product, but only a small fraction of the millions eligible have applied for the money.” (David Kravets, “California lawyers say they deserve $258 million for suing Microsoft”, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, May 12). Update Sept. 23: judge slashes fee to $112 million.

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  • A Good Judge of Greed and Overreaching

    Bill Gates’ little company