Lawyers in Iowa lawsuit against Microsoft to get $75M

Computerworld - A $75 million payout to the lawyers who sued Microsoft Corp. over antitrust claims in Iowa has some people in the state hopping mad.

As part of the settlement approved by Polk County District Court Judge Scott Rosenberg on Friday, Microsoft will pay legal fees and expenses that work out to more than $640 for each of the 117,000 hours claimed by an army of lawyers, clerks and paralegals.

Rosenberg's ruling put an end to a seven-year class-action lawsuit between the software developer and Iowa consumers. The parties had agreed to the $180 million settlement in February, but it awaited final approval before residents could start receiving damages awarded by a jury last year. That jury said Microsoft used monopolistic tactics to overcharge state residents for popular software such as Windows and Office. The settlement let consumers who bought certain Microsoft programs between May 1994 and June 2006 file for reimbursements that will range from $16 for each copy of Windows to $29 for each copy of Office.

But it's the lawyers' take-home pay that had readers of The Des Moines Register, the state's largest paper, riled.

"Gee, guess who wins in this whole scenario?" said a reader identified as "jeffy" in a comment attached to a Saturday story in the Register. "The average consumer gets a 100 bucks at best; the lawyers walk away with millions. Thanks for the $100.00, Roxanne."

Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin, along with Minneapolis lawyer Richard Hagstrom, served as the co-lead counsels in the case. The two filed for and were awarded individual fees that, with a "risk premium," totaled $1,072 an hour, according to calculations by the newspaper.

"I don't care how complex a case is, lawyers are not worth $1,000/hr!" said a reader labeled only as "aauummm."

Conlin, Hagstrom and the other lawyers involved in the case accumulated nearly $8 million in expenses during the long-running case. "We took the risk of walking away $8 million in debt," Conlin told the Associated Press last Thursday.

Other Microsoft antitrust settlements have also resulted in large legal fees. For example, in the Minnesota case settled in 2004, in which Hangstrom was also involved, Microsoft paid $48 million in attorney fees.

Although Microsoft must pay the Iowa attorneys, it hasn't always gone quietly into the night. In May, for instance, it disputed the fees billed by attorneys in that case and one in Wisconsin. Then, the company objected to the $75.5 million total that the lawyers asked for; earlier, Microsoft had agreed to pay up to $75 million.

Iowans have until Dec. 14 to file their claims. Online forms can be found here.