Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Massachusetts have settled a nine-month long legal tangle over the attorneys' fees and costs generated in the state's anti-trust fight against the computer giant. The federal judge with the alliterative name you just have to love, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, awarded the state far less than it had hoped for.
Microsoft will pay $967,014.52 to reimburse Massachusetts for its attorneys' fees. The state originally billed the company for $2,012,377.72.
Kollar-Kotelly doesn't have much love for Massachusetts, likely stemming from the state's still-standing appeal of her November 2002 approval of Microsoft's agreement with the Justice Department. Massachusetts is the only state still holding out for harsher penalties on Microsoft.
In her ruling, the judge said that Massachusetts' sloppy record-keeping was part of its downfall here. She characterized the award as "generous," and took Attorney General Tom Reilly to task for the state's "deficient documentation and lack of explanation." Had she been provided with adequate records, Kollar-Kotelly likely would have ordered Microsoft to pay at least an additional $322,721. Ouch.
Not surprisingly, both sides claimed victory, with Massachusetts focusing on Microsoft finally paying its bill, and Microsoft celebrating the judge's decision to reduce the plaintiff's claims by more than half.
They'll get a chance to square off again on Nov. 4, when oral arguments begin in federal court for Massachusetts' appeal of the Justice Department's settlement with Microsoft. The state isn't expected to fare much better then than it did here.
LouAnn Lofton owns shares of Microsoft.
