While the issues have changed little, the case's future may be profoundly affected by the absence of three pivotal figures: U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein and lead prosecution attorney David Boies.
Jackson is expected to be removed from future proceedings, giving way to seven fresh judges who have taken over the case, and Klein has left his post as head of the Justice Department's antitrust division. But it is Boies' predicament that is most interesting of all.
By joining Vice President Al Gore's legal team in the electoral battle in Florida, the government's outside counsel has almost ensured that he will play no further role in the Microsoft case should George W. Bush become president, legal experts say. Boies is largely credited for engineering the government's unprecedented legal victory, through courtroom theatrics, sharp questioning of Microsoft witnesses and facile use of the media.
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