onald Whyte is comfortable at the ends of the earth.
The thin, 57-year-old federal judge's mild manners are becoming legend, but they belie a man with a penchant for adventure. Whyte has walked in Darwin's footsteps on the Galapagos Islands, sailed down the Amazon River, climbed the Andes and summered in Antarctica.
But it is Whyte's stateside setting -- a low-slung courtroom in San Jose's cramped, under-repair federal building -- where the real flights of fancy take place. There, the Bush-appointee contemplates nucleotides, source code and universal platform languages with a Zen-like self-restraint lawyers say is almost impossible to rattle.
Around him, the headlines swirl:
- "Judge Rules for Sun Over Microsoft"
- "Avant Awaits Judge's Order, Shares Plunge"
- "Man Pleads Guilty in High-Tech Spy Case"
Sitting in Silicon Valley since 1992, Whyte has not only seen his share of high-profile cases, but he has helped set the bar in emerging areas of law.
He was the first judge to rule that typefaces could be patented. He was also the first to rule that Internet service providers and chat rooms are more like bookstores than publishers, a notion that has since been adopted into law.
"From an intellectual standpoint," Whyte says, working in Silicon Valley "is certainly challenging. The cases are: one, cutting-edge, and two, in a field that is often difficult."
To help understand sophisticated issues, Whyte says he'll often ask for tutorials. Lawyers are usually more than happy to comply, he says.
A former white-collar defense lawyer at Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel, Whyte's elevation to the federal bench from Santa Clara County Superior Court meant his career had leapfrogged that of his father, a former Los Angeles County Superior Court judge.
Lawyers say he is always prepared. A good listener. Inquisitive.
"When you see his initials assigned to a complaint, you know that you'll get a rational result," says one prominent high-tech defense attorney. "If anything, he's too fair."
"Super diligent," says another. "Visibly tries to do the right thing."
"Courtesy is part of his DNA," says Allen Ruby, Santa Clara County's 1999 Trial Lawyer of the Year. "He's held in universally high regard."
His critics are few and far between. If anyone has a beef with him, it is plaintiffs lawyers in securities fraud suits who feel Whyte gives them short shrift. Even then, the subdued demeanor wins Whyte high praise.
Whyte admits he's not the flashiest judge in the world, a trait he says he shared with his father. They both also enjoyed law and motion calendars.
In Whyte's courtroom, that comes on Friday. He is almost alone among Northern District judges in consistently posting tentative rulings, giving lawyers on the losing end a chance to know where they stand going into court.
Whyte's background is in civil litigation, and he was open about his lack of experience with a criminal caseload when he assumed the bench.
But despite Whyte's Republican leanings, most defense attorneys say he's not overly pro-government. Two years ago, he overturned convicted killer and rapist Russell Coleman's death sentence because of a controversial jury instruction.
"He doesn't put his thumb on the scales," Ruby says. "It's a great court to go to."
Unless you grandstand. Or point fingers at other lawyers.
"I really dislike name-calling and accusations about misrepresenting things or hiding things," Whyte says. "I don't like that kind of bickering in court. If it starts, I try to stop it."
Whyte says he enjoys working in San Jose and the company of his fellow judges there -- when he gets the chance.
"There isn't a whole lot of interchange between the judges. I wish there were more," he says.
Which would be one of the considerations if he ever was nominated for the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
"The one thing that is a change going from a lawyer to a judge is the isolation," Whyte says. The higher you go, he adds, the worse it gets.
But for now, Whyte has no real aspirations to move on.
Except in one sense. Next month, he's taking a normal vacation -- to France.
