Did Larry Sonsini receive backdated Novell options?

Larry Sonsini, chairman of law firm Wilson Sonsini, may himself have been the beneficiary of backdated options received at their lows from Novell when he was on that company's board in 1999.  That's suggested by an article in the Recorder, a San Francisco legal publication.  Good thing he hired white collar crime lawyer Michael Madigan of Akin Gump recently to represent him in the Hewlett Packard mess.  He may want to keep him on retainer.

Sonsini...was on Novell Inc.'s board when the directors awarded themselves 50,000 stock options each in 1999 — at what turned out to be a 17-month low in the share price, according to the Recorder, a San Francisco-based legal publication.

The timing of Novell's Oct. 26, 1999, grants raises questions about whether the options were issued when Novell said they were, the Recorder said Monday.

Sonsini, a leading Silicon Valley attorney, has been under scrutiny for his role in advising tech firms on options. But the Recorder said its review of SEC documents "suggests Sonsini's involvement with suspiciously dated options wasn't limited to those he approved for other people."

A Wilson Sonsini spokeswoman didn't return a call seeking comment.

Lawyer Got Options at Low - Los Angeles Times