.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:235px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Attorneys’ fees and costs of $75.5 million in the settlement of the antitrust lawsuit filed in Iowa against Microsoft Corp. came as a shock to many in the legal community who followed the case. But with the size and scope of the lawsuit, most agree the numbers may not be out of line.

“The attorney fee request is much higher than I could have imagined,” said Brett Trout, a local patent attorney. “Initially, that’s a huge surprise, but it’s not implausible.”

Roxanne Conlin, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said her legal team invested the equivalent of $60 million in time and resources during the seven years it pursued the antitrust case against the software giant.

“More than 150 lawyers, law clerks and assistants over the course of seven years have spent tens of thousands of hours and millions and millions of dollars in costs,” Conlin said, adding: “It is very distressing for class-action lawyers that we can’t seem to get the message across that we’re working on a contingency. If we don’t win, that $60 million is gone.”

William Raisch, an adjunct professor who teaches antitrust law at Drake University School of Law, said the court allows attorneys to get “reasonable attorneys’ fees,” which is defined as the going hourly rate in the community. There are, however, other factors that the judge in the case can consider. Those include time and labor, the novelty of the case, the skill needed to be successful, the undesirability of the case and attorneys’ fees in similar cases. “The decision is ultimately up to the court,” he said. “The judge will decide.”

Tim Semelroth, vice president of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, said antitrust cases are some of the most expensive to bring to court, especially when they involve litigation against a huge corporation. “Just like in any business, when people are willing to take a great risk, they tend to be rewarded for it,” he said.

Conlin said the risks of this case were large from the beginning.

“When I started this lawsuit in February of 2000, I was the only lawyer in the state who thought that consumers had a cause of action under Iowa antitrust law,” she said. “Even the attorney general didn’t think so. Initially, I was very doubtful that I would prevail. I thought that we should prevail. I thought we were right.”

Conlin said corporate interests have spent billions of dollars “poisoning the public” against class-action lawsuits.

“But it is the only mechanism available to hold large companies accountable for doing small amounts of damage to huge numbers of people,” she said. “We think as many as a million Iowans may have lost hundreds of dollars. One of them couldn’t invest $60 million to get that money back.”

Microsoft agreed not to object if the fees sought were $75 million or less. Because the fees top that amount by $500,000, the company will object when the settlement comes up for final approval on Aug. 31.

“Everything will depend upon what Roxanne has to document her claimed $60 million in expenditures,” Trout said. “If she has ample support for that amount, I do not think $75 million is out of line, especially since she got consumers their payments in cash. On the other hand, if there is insufficient documentation, or if there are attorneys with $1,000 or more hourly rates, the general public will likely backlash against her, as well as against attorneys in general. Microsoft will be in the white hat, throwing cash to the townsfolk and helping Iowa schools, while Roxanne will be riding out of town with her black hat and wagonloads of lucre.”

A spokesman for the plaintiffs’ attorneys said they have until August to put together a breakdown of the requested legal fees for the judge.