Private MS Lawsuits To Be Heard In One Court

A panel of federal judges has reportedly ordered that 27 private antitrust lawsuits filed in 17 different federal jurisdictions against Microsoft Corp. will be handled by a single court in Baltimore.

A report in today's Wall Street Journal said that US District Judge J. Frederick Motz will coordinate pretrial activities for the suits. The judiciary panel decided that centralizing the lawsuits, at least for the present, will "promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation" because testimony by experts is expected to "overlap substantially."

The report said the move potentially gives lawyers more concentrated firepower against Microsoft, but also benefits the company because its lawyers are spared having to respond to duplicate pretrial motions in different courts across the country.

The private suits carry the potential for triple damages against Microsoft and largely mirror the antitrust charges filed by the US Justice Department and 19 states, the report said, adding that Microsoft has appealed to have the cases moved to Washington state or to Chicago, where settlement talks had been conducted.

Reported By Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.