Law Professor Is Named Mediator in Microsoft Case

A Boston University law professor has been appointed as a mediator in efforts to get Microsoft Corp. and the government to quickly resolve the landmark antitrust case against the software giant.

In an order issued late Friday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly named professor Eric Green, who teaches negotiation and mediation of legal disputes, to try to bring the parties to a settlement over the next few weeks.

The judge has said that if there is no settlement by Nov. 2, she plans to begin hearings in March on what sanctions should apply against Microsoft for illegally maintaining its monopoly in personal computer operation systems.

Since taking oversight of the case, Kollar-Kotelly has urged the company, the Justice Department and the 18 states joining the federal government, to work hard to reach a settlement without further lengthy court proceedings.

In late September she gave the parties until last week to reach a pact on their own or else suggest a mediator.

Settlement talks have been tried before in the 4-year-old case.

Negotiations in 1998 failed to stop the filing of the suit against the world’s largest software company. A one-day effort during the trial in 1999 also failed, as did more than four months of mediation by distinguished Chicago appeals court Judge Richard Posner that ended on April 1 of last year.

In her order appointing Green, Kollar-Kotelly said she was satisfied, after speaking with the parties in a conference call Friday, that they had been diligent in trying to reach a settlement.

“However, as the importance of these negotiations cannot be overemphasized, the court urges the parties to remain steadfast in their efforts to reach a mutually agreeable resolution,” the judge said.

She said the parties had jointly suggested Green as mediator.