| ► Attorney Malcolm Wittenberg of San Francisco; scofflaw, ethical gremlin |
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Attorney Malcolm Wittenberg of San Francisco; scofflaw, ethical gremlin
In 2001 attorney Malcolm Wittenberg was criminally convicted of insider trading. At the time, Wittenberg was a patent-tra
 demark partner with Crosby,  Heafey, Roach & May in San Francisco until 2001.
While representing Forte Software in 1999, Wittenberg learned from Fort’s general counsel that the company was going to be acquired by Sun Microsystems. On the same day, Wittenberg bough 1,000 shares of Forte and several days later bought another 1,000 shares. After the merger was announced, Wittenberg sold his shares and illegally pocketed $14,000.
As a result of being a convicted felon, the State Bar recommended that Wittenberg being summarily disbarred. The enablers/apologists on The State Bar Court declined to make such a recommendation.
The primary enabler for Attorney Misfits in this case was Presiding Judge Ronald Stovitz who had the chutzpah to state that the felonious criminal conduct of Wittenberg was “neither intentional dishonest for personal gain nor any other element that would bring the conviction into the class of those involving moral turpitude.”
To state on the record that Wittenberg’s conduct wasn’t “intentionally dishonest for personal gain” doesn’t pass the involuntary laugh test. As a result of Judge Ronald Stovitz’s asinine findings Wittenberg was merely suspended rather being permanently disbarred. What a joke!
This type of conduct by the enablers and apologists on the California State Bar Court is further evidence that Attorney Misfits are held to a much lower standard of conduct than we are, right?
If you were convicted of a felony wherein you violated a fiduciary trust involving a client, do ya really think you’d be able to find another high-paying job in the same field? |