More Fees for Victors in Old Iran Dairy Case

WASHINGTON (CN) - Pharmaceutical giant McKesson will get another $450,000 in attorneys' fees and costs in its 30-year case over an Iranian dairy, a federal judge ruled.

McKesson Corp. sued the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1982, claiming that it had expropriated McKesson's equity interest in an Iranian dairy after the 1979 revolution and failed to pay its dividends.

In 2010, a federal judge in Washington awarded McKesson $43 million in damages and compound interest, but the D.C. Circuit later found that Iranian law does not permit the award of compound interest.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said this past March that he welcomed the opportunity to put an end to this 30-year-old "Sisyphean" case.

Calculating simple prejudgment interest from August 12, 1981, to March 27, 2013, Leon totaled interest to be $21 million, bringing the damages award to $29 million.

Leon also awarded McKesson $11 million in attorneys' fees and costs to its counsel at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Winston & Strawn LLP.

That ruling noted McKesson could seeks additional fees and costs with respect to charges incurred after June 30, 2012.

Crediting a declaration from Winston & Strawn partner Mark Bravin, Judge Leon on Tuesday awarded the plaintiffs another $434,385 in attorneys' fees and $17,073 in nontaxable costs.

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