Utah Bar Journal

Volume 13 No. 8 October 2000

COVER: Sundance Lodge Area, Utah, by Daniel J. Anderson, Esq., Beneficial Life Insurance Co.

• The Executive Director's Message: An Idea Ahead of its Time by John Baldwin


• Top Ten Lessons from Caldera, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp. by Ryan E. Tibbitts


• What It Takes by Chief Deputy Reed Richards, Candidate for Attorney General


• Working to Make Utah Free by W. Andrew McCullough, Candidate for Attorney General


• State Bar News


• Views From the Bench

The Bar moved its offices into the newly-constructed Utah Law & Justice Center twelve years ago this month. The change was progressive and controversial. It accommodated the changing needs of a growing Bar and created a place where lawyers could conduct business in a neutral setting or gather to rekindle a sense of professional camaraderie. The move acknowledged the Bar's increasing responsibility to the community and recognized that alternative dispute resolution would become an accepted part of the practice of law. The move was controversial because two years later the building was the focus of a rather substantial increase in licensing fees.

Paul T. Moxley, past President of the Utah State Bar, has been named an officer of the National Conference of Bar Presidents (NCBP), and he will become President in four years. This is a national leadership position. The NCBP is the voice of state and local bars in the U.S. and an important liaison with the American Bar Association (ABA). Mr. Moxley is the first lawyer from Utah to hold this position. Mr. Moxley was also named to the Steering Committee of the House of Delegates for the American Bar Association.

by Ryan E. Tibbitts

On January 7, 2000, a Settlement Agreement was signed by representatives of Microsoft Corp. and Caldera, Inc. ending one of the largest private monopolization cases in history.2 The settlement amount is confidential, but Microsoft announced that it was taking a three cent per share charge against earnings to pay the settlement amount. Based upon that information, news organizations estimated the settlement to be somewhere between $155,000,000 (Deseret News - January 11, 2000), and $275,000,000 (Wall Street Journal - January 11, 2000).
As one of Caldera's lawyers, I learned (or relearned) some valuable lessons from my participation in the case. For some, these observations will not be new or interesting. For others, some of these observations, hopefully, will be instructive.

by Mark Shurtleff, Candidate for Attorney General

Why I am Running for State Attorney General

Shortly after I took office as Salt Lake County Commissioner, 19-year old Darby Golub - a son, a husband, a father - was killed in a drug deal just two blocks from my home. I didn't know him, but seeking for understanding, I attended the funeral. I learned of a life destroyed, a child left fatherless, a family devastated. I came away from that experience solidly committed to do all I could to stop drugs from destroying our communities and compelled to make a difference. That experience and horrific crime statistics in areas like meth, rape and larceny are what motivated me to pursue the office of Utah Attorney General.

by Chief Deputy Reed Richards, Candidate for Attorney General

The questions are sometimes unpredictable, but they're always asked with genuine curiosity. "Does the Attorney General wear a badge?" asks one of the many children who come to my office to learn about our work, and I am once again reminded that the term "Attorney General" represents different things to different people.

by W. Andrew McCullough, Candidate for Attorney General

On Thursday, I received a phone call from the Bar Journal requesting an article by Monday. The time crunch was, apparently, the result of the fact that my candidacy for the Office of Utah Attorney General had gone unnoticed until the last minute. Well, that is not terribly surprising, though a little disappointing. Here it is only a few weeks from election, and I am once again reminded that nobody is aware I am running. That disappointment, however, is tempered by the fact that almost nobody I have talked to over the last several months can identify both of my opponents, either. We all have a big job to do to let people know we are here, and what we stand for; and I am grateful to the Bar Journal for this opportunity. If my presentation here is not as polished as those of my opponents, you are now aware of the rather short time I have had to prepare it.

During its regularly scheduled meeting of August 18, 2000, which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Board of Bar Commissioners received the following reports and took the actions indicated.

1. The Commission met with all members of the Supreme Court. They reviewed the MDP Task Force Report, discussed Pro Hac Vice fees, reviewed cash flow projections and reviewed the Task Force on Bar Governance.

by Judge Gregory K. Orme, Utah Court of Appeals

Editor’s note: Except as otherwise noted, the views expressed are those of the author and not the Utah Court of Appeals; any other judge thereof, past or present; any other person, real or fictional; or Major League Baseball.

Many years ago, I wrote a column for the Salt Lake County Bar & Bench Bulletin called "De Minimis," borrowed from the well-worn (but blatantly untrue) Latin adage,"De minimis non curat lex" - roughly,"The law does not deal with trifles." It permitted me to spend just a paragraph or two on a comparatively small matter. The idea, at least, was that even though each topic was not worth a whole column, taken together, they might be. I want to follow that same format in this article, using that term loosely, and mention just a few little things. (Some might call many of these"pet peeves," but that sounds so negative.)