CallWave’s attempt to take itself private caused a brief flare-up in Santa Barbara County Superior Court that likely will result in a payday for some out-of-town attorneys.

The former Santa Barbara company hit the markets with a $40 million initial public offering in 2004. But its flagship products — most notably, a service to let users take calls over a phone line being used to surf the Web — banked on customers connecting via dial-up, and its stock got battered as users fled to broadband.
CallWave moved its operations to San Francisco last year while maintaining legal headquarters in the Tri-Counties.

In early May, the company moved to take itself private, offering to buy out stockholders at $1.15 per share and then carry out a stock-split maneuver that would cash out stockholders with fewer than 5,000 shares. Its revenue down 21 percent between 2007 and 2008, CallWave argued it could save $765,000 a year by taking itself off the NASDAQ.

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