Microsoft Shores Up Legal Defense Team

Microsoft Corp. has strengthened its legal team to appeal a federal judge’s finding that the company had violated antitrust laws. Carter Phillips and his Washington, D.C., law firm, Sidley & Austin, will assist Microsoft in arguing that its appeal should be argued first before the U.S. Court of Appeals instead of the Supreme Court. The Justice Department has requested that the nation’s highest court hear the Microsoft case right away, avoiding the U.S. Court of Appeals in the interest of time. The lower court also has sided with Microsoft in past cases. Microsoft is challenging U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson’s order to break the company into two parts--one for the Windows operating system and the other for Microsoft Office software, the company’s online properties and other software products. Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said that the company’s lead counsel, the Washington firm Sullivan & Cromwell, will continue to head the defense. Sullivan & Cromwell came under fire during the 1998-99 trial for a number of gaffes and failed tactics in the courtroom. Microsoft shares were unchanged at $80 on Nasdaq.