A daylong mediation with Mr. Smith, of Seattle’s Smith & Leary P.L.L.C., produced a settlement in a $1.6 billion private lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. By then, the company apparently had strong incentives to settle rather than proceed with a Feb. 1 trial before a Salt Lake City federal jury: Results in three mock trials in Utah did not bode well for the defense on liability, according to sources familiar with the case.
The suit by Caldera Inc., a small Salt Lake City company that owns the rights to DR-DOS, a computer operating system that was once a Microsoft rival, had been dragging on since July 1996. Caldera Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 96-CV-645 (D. Utah). A previous effort to mediate had failed. Last December, the parties hired Mr. Smith, a commercial litigator who chairs the alternative dispute resolution program at the Seattle federal court.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
