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Re: Microsoft: "Human Greed Has No Bounds"

High Plains Thumper wrote:

> John Bailo wrote:
>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>
>>> "Human Greed Has No Bounds," Says MSFT in Fee Dispute
>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | Microsoft, he adds, is "seeking to punish counsel that has cost them
>>> | a lot of money by increasing [the settlement] value to Wisconsin
>>> | class members."
>>> `----
>>
>>>http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2007/03/14/fee-fight-involving-microsoft-bre...
>>>http://tinyurl.com/yptw58
>>
>> Mmmm...who do I like better...Lawyers being paid " $4702.50 per hour "
>> or Microsoft....lawyers...Microsoft....lawyers...
> 
> Article states, "Last year, Microsoft entered a proposed settlement,
> valued at up to $223.8 million," and "Last week, though, Microsoft
> dropped some verbal bombs in a brief objecting to the $22.6 million in
> fees requested by class counsel in the case."
> 
> INAL, but I don't think the lawyer fee of $22.6 million or 10% of
> $223.8 million proposed settlement is out of reason.
> 
> Using "back of the envelope calculations", let us assume that the
> average lawyer/researcher earns $100K annually with 25% fringes or
> $125K per year.
> 
> http://www.knoxala.org/Resources/dicta1299.htm states, "Those firms
> averaged spending $116,408 per lawyer on overhead,"
> 
> With US inflation at say, 2% per year from 1998 to 2006 would be $136K
> for overhead.
> 
> Such overhead would include travel expenses, administrative,
> additional personnel doing additional "legwork research", document
> preparation, etc., which IMHO is not much different than in the design
> engineering world.
> 
> Article also states, "Nationwide, firms of all sizes reported that
> their average net income per lawyer in 1998 was 55.7% of total
> revenue, down from 56.7% the previous year. With a strong economy,
> these trends are expected to increase in 1999."
> 
> That is $261K per lawyer per year.  If case took 2 years in
> preparation, at 55.7% profitability, then a team of 19 lawyers worked
> full time on the case.  If team was divided into 3 teams of 6 lawyers
> with a principal lawyer, each of the 6 person team handling one aspect
> of the case would not seem unreasonable, IMHO, given the complexity
> and amount of research required in the case.
> 
> Perhaps it is a case of Microsoft legal team getting a taste of their
> own medicine?
> 
> --
> HPT

But shouldn't the people who they are representing pay their own lawyers. I
don't see it as fair that the two parties price an out of date settlement
for the actual dispute, then the other party has to pay the lawyers what
they would have gotten had the case gone ahead. The lawyers didn't actually
need to do the job of putting their clients case, so there can't really be
a large bill involved. 

Maybe the cost of a few hours study of the case and those strange high
priced letters that lawyers apparently keep writing. Has anyone ever seen
one of those letters? Are they so fantastic that they are well worth the
money charged? You would think that if they are so good that there would be
a market for them wouldn't you.





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