All Hail the Trial Lawyers!
December 17th, 2007 - Written by Joey
This evening’s “Vomit of the Day” comes to us from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who takes issue with wealthy corporations, but apparently holds wealthy attorneys to an entirely different standard.
It’s been a good four years for the Minneapolis law firm of Zelle Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette, but not so good for its perennial courtroom opponent, software giant Microsoft.
Zelle Hofmann has hit a mother lode, with a series of antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft Corp. that resulted in nearly $600 million in out-of-court settlements for consumers and businesses who bought Windows, Office and other Microsoft products at what were alleged to be artificially high prices.
In courtroom dramas that drew upon the same basic evidence, Zelle Hofmann won settlements in Minnesota in 2004 and in Iowa and Wisconsin this year, while collecting more than $65 million in legal fees for itself (fees for lawyers are awarded separately from settlements for plaintiffs).
These bitter fights are no ordinary David-vs.-Goliath story, as Zelle Hofmann has proved itself to be the equal of Microsoft’s New York-based defense team in the three cases. Microsoft settled for $174.5 million in Minnesota, $180 million in Iowa and $223.9 million in Wisconsin.
So let me get this straight…
Microsoft, a company who produces things that people want to buy, is an evil “Goliath”, and attorneys, who make their living off of stealing from the Goliaths to give their class action “clients” lousy $50 software vouchers and make $65 million for themselves in legal fees, are unsung heroes.
I, like many of you cheeseheads out there, received the letter from Zelle Hofmann a little over a year ago, explaining that I could receive a $50 voucher for Microsoft software if I decided to be part of the class-action suit. Seriously.
Does anyone else see the craziness in this? These attorneys pick a golden calf (Microsoft), pretend to be concerned about the citizens who supposedly overpaid for a product (Hello? I wouldn’t have purchased it if I thought it was overpriced!), while they rake in over $65 million in legal fees, and laugh all the way to the bank.
Will someone please explain to me how these scummy, disingenuous attorneys are the heroes, and Microsoft are the robbing thieves?
As for the good news in this story, a judge hearing the Wisconsin case has decided to award Zelle Hofmann only $4 million in legal fees, which of course, the law firm is fighting. At least there’s still some sanity left in the courtroom.
If you want to read the entire, disgusting article, it’s here.
Related Post: The Angelic and Giving Nature of Trial Lawyers
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