he Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May attorney who will be sentenced for insider trading in December wants his brothers and sisters in the IP bar to write letters asking a federal judge for leniency.
"Sentencing will take place on Dec. 4, 2001, and it is incumbent of me to provide character letters as I go through this incredibly painful process," wrote Malcolm Wittenberg in a Sept. 7 e-mail to several intellectual property lawyers.
"If you or others who have known me for so very long could prepare a letter on my behalf, I'd be most grateful," he continued.
Wittenberg, a well-known figure on Crosby, Heafey's San Francisco intellectual property team, pleaded guilty to insider trading. Authorities accused Wittenberg of buying 2,000 shares of Forte Software Inc. after he learned about an impending merger. Wittenberg, who was Forte's patent attorney at the time, allegedly sold the shares after the merger and made a $14,000 profit.
The Securities and Exchange Commission settled other similar charges against Wittenberg, and the lawyer admitted no wrongdoing. Wittenberg no longer works at Crosby, Heafey and could be disbarred.
It is customary for defendants' supporters to send letters to the judge, said one of Wittenberg's attorneys.
"This is not unusual," said Douglas Young of Farella Braun & Martel. "Every person who gets sentenced gets letters from the community."
Attorneys say that the blanket e-mail, addressed to and forwarded by several IP lawyers, popped into in-boxes recently.
The message asked lawyers to write letters to U.S. District Judge William Alsup and mail them to Wittenberg attorney William Keane. Young said the letters will be passed on to the federal judge before sentencing.
In the e-mail, Wittenberg suggested that colleagues write that they were "shocked and surprised to learn of these events and whatever you feel comfortable in stating in my support."
Crosby, Heafey managing partner Kurt Peterson said he knew Wittenberg had asked for letters and wouldn't be surprised if several lawyers pen one.
"He has many good friends out there," Peterson said. Peterson said the firm isn't in a position to do anything in an official capacity, but the managing partner said he may write a letter as a personal gesture.
Calls to several attorneys who got the e-mail were not returned. Others who got the e-mail said that they did not know Wittenberg personally.
One Sunnyvale attorney -- who doesn't know Wittenberg and received the e-mail -- said that he thought soliciting support letters was in bad taste.
When a lawyer gets caught breaking the law, the public already assumes that judges and lawyers will try to shield one of their own from harsh penalties, said Kevin Fortin, in-house counsel for Philips Electronics.
Character letters from the bar will reinforce those suspicions, Fortin said.
"It just looks bad," he said.
