Colossus
BRADFORD SMITH
Senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, Microsoft Corp. Age 51
THE COMPANY
Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond,
Wash., Microsoft Corp. is the world’s largest software
company. It offers the gamut of software, related
services and Internet technologies for personal and
business computing. With an annual budget of $7
billion for research and development, Microsoft is
known for the design and creation of a wide range
of computer technology. The publicly traded company
has 57,000 employees and, in the fiscal year ended
in June, reported $36.8 billion in revenues.
UNITED STATES V. MICROSOFT
In 1998, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and 20
states sued Microsoft, alleging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The action focused on the Windows
product and charged that Microsoft had unlawfully
used anticompetitive means to maintain a monopoly.
Issues related to the integration into Windows of its
Internet Explorer Web browser were central to the
case. Microsoft denied the allegations, but in 2001,
after a 78-day trial and rulings against it at the district court and appellate level, the company, with GC
Bradford Smith’s predecessor William Neukom at the
helm, negotiated a settlement with the DOJ that was
signed onto by nine of the plaintiff states.
OUTSIDE COUNSEL
COMPANY
MICROSOFT CORP.
CORPORATE TRANSACTIONS
Cadwalader; Freshfields
Bruckhaus; K&L Gates;
Linklaters; Osler Hoskin;
Perkins Coie; Simpson
Thacher; Sullivan &
Cromwell; White & Case
COMMERCIAL LAW AND
CONTRACTS LITIGATION
Sidley Austin; Venable
A 2002 decision by the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia “largely supported the settlement
that had been negotiated in ‘01,” said Smith, who
by that time had reached closure with all but West
Virginia (which ultimately settled) and Massachusetts,
which appealed. On June 30, 2004, the U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled
in Microsoft’s favor, upholding the remedies spelled
out in the district court decision.
The settlement “prescribes a course of conduct
Microsoft must follow...and the court’s judgment
governs all of our contracts with companies that
manufacture PCs and that ship Windows,” said Smith.
Microsoft is not barred from “bundling” new functions
into Windows.
Instead, it has set uniform royalty rates for PC manufacturers and created a new standardized Windows
desktop license. It also has made available certain
codes to promote interoperability and created compliance training programs for its employees.
TORTS AND
NEGLIGENCE
Riddell Williams
EMPLOYMENT AND
LABOR LITIGATION
Lane Powell; Perkins
Coie
IP LITIGATION AND PATENT
PROSECUTION
Amin, Turocy; Banner & Witcoff;
Donahue Gallagher; Fish &
Richardson; Holland & Knight;
K&L Gates; Lee & Hayes; Locke
Lord; Merchant & Gould; Perkins
Coie; Sidley Austin; Wilson
Sheehy; Workman Nydegger;
Yarmuth Wilsdon
