LOQ.....Hi-tech Queue eliminator

Wrt the legal fees and provisioning for settlement.

It's always a difficult call. Given advice that the case is winnable and likely to be won then management are left with being over-prudent and potentially also making new customers nervous or simply taking necessary steps to defend their position and waiting till they had more certainty. Given the likelihood of winning then they might also reasonably have expected to be awarded costs.

As was pointed out earlier, in 2004 neither side had much to play for. Clearly that has changed given the success lately. So a settlement now, rather than inevitably large, open-ended legal fees and the possibility of a loss with even more profits on the table to dispute, looks like a good or at least sensible call. My read then is that as part of the settlement they are likely also picking up some of the plaintiff's costs (at a guess it makes it sweeter for them from a tax point of view than a large settlement and no costs). At which point everything becomes certain and they have to recognise it all.

Personally I'd still have made more mention of it before now, but anyway, it having been brought to everyone's attention I'm glad it is settled, particularly before the company moves onwards and upwards (I hope).

rgds