Andersen Lawyer Says Firm to Seek a Speedy Trial

WASHINGTON -- Andersen’s lawyer said Sunday that a speedy trial might allow the accounting firm to stay in business, backing away from the company’s earlier claims that federal charges would be a “death penalty” for the firm.

Andersen said in a March 13 letter to the Justice Department that the indictment over shredding documents related to audits of bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. was tantamount to a “death penalty on the firm.”

“It was referred to as a death penalty because they were asking us to plead guilty and a guilty plea would have been a serious problem for the company,” Stanley Brand, an Andersen lawyer from Brand & Frulla, said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Hopefully the company can get this part of it behind them and go forward.”

The obstruction-of-justice charges filed last week accuse Andersen, Enron’s auditor for 16 years, of illegally shredding “tons” of Enron-related documents. Andersen says senior management played no role in the shredding and the company will plead not guilty in an arraignment Wednesday.

Brand said Houston lawyers for Andersen, the fifth-largest accounting firm in the U.S., plan to ask prosecutors to complete the trial in 60 to 80 days. He said the company continues to do its work while it fights the charges.

Some of the accounting firm’s largest clients, including Sara Lee Corp., Merck & Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp., have dropped Andersen as their auditor. Last week, the accounting firm was suspended from doing business with the U.S. government.

The indictment says the document shredding occurred in Portland, Ore., London and Chicago, as well as in Houston, Enron’s home. Enron, which filed for bankruptcy protection Dec. 2, is accused by critics of hiding losses in partnerships that ultimately unraveled, wiping out $68 billion in the market value of its shares.

The government says Andersen partners who worked on Enron’s audit began shredding documents in Houston on Oct. 23, after learning of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Enron’s accounting.

In a five-page defense of its actions released Friday, Andersen accused the government of misstating facts and alleging criminal wrongdoing without basis.

“It came as a great shock to us that the government would indict an entire company--85,000 employees, in effect-- for something that a few misguided people had done,” Brand said.

In its defense, Andersen said the shredding occurred before Andersen received a subpoena. The firm also noted the government didn’t allege the involvement of Andersen management in Chicago.