The New York Times takes a different tack in the stock options pricing imbroglio today and goes after noted Silicon Valley lawyer Larry Sonsini.
It’s hard for a lawyer to take seriously an article that begins like this:
Larry W. Sonsini, Silicon Valley’s most feared and sought-after lawyer, dresses in fine Italian suits even as the rest of the Valley — other high-priced attorneys included — ply their trades in chinos and blue Oxford shirts. He is soft-spoken and restrained, sometimes eerily quiet, in contrast to the brash and kinetic entrepreneurs and financiers who otherwise dominate the landscape.
John Grisham and Scott Turow, watch your back.
At the end of the day, it’s an interesting recounting of Mr. Sonsini’s formidable career, but makes the leap of logic to assume that because some of his clients are facing scrutiny, he must share (somehow) responsibility. Indeed, the writer notes:
… so deep is his understanding of the issues that management is facing that it is often difficult to tell where his legal advice ends and his business counsel begins.
That’s a sign of responsibility? To me that’s a sign of a lawyer I’d like to work with.