Intel Corp (INTC)

[Windsock]

Intel settled the FDIV law suit with what was basically a nuisance settlement. The offer to replace the processor should have been the end of the class actions but the lawyers kept the actions alive with a claim for special damages -- a fuzzy category that includes the dog getting sick due to a bad floating point calculation, etc.

The settlement was a classic example of class action abuse by Lerach and like minded vultures. The attorneys received $9 million and a claim procedure was established to pay special damage claims filed by users. If Intel denied the claim the user could ask for arbitration.

Intel was pretty generous in evaluating the merit of the claims, partly to achieve customer good will. Anyone want to guess the $$ that Intel paid to users in the first year of the claim program?