A lawyer for Raj Rajaratnam appeared before a judicial panel in a lower Manhattan courtroom in a final attempt keep her client out of prison while he appeals his insider-trading conviction.  The lawyer came prepared to discuss complex legal concepts related to the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution and Title III of the Federal Wiretap Act. Instead, all the judges wanted to discuss was whether there was a risk that Mr. Rajaratnam, if allowed to remain free on bail, would flee to his native Sri Lanka. “Wouldn’t he rather be living as a centimillionaire in his own country rather than as a convict in a jail?” Judge Dennis Jacobs asked Patricia A. Millett, a lawyer for Mr. Rajaratnam. “He can’t even get there,” she said. “His passport was surrendered.” Three judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit are reviewing the trial court judge’s ruling that denied Mr. Rajaratnam bail pending the appeal of his conviction. If the panel rules in his favor, Mr. Rajaratnam will remain free while his case wends its way through the appellate process, which could take as long as a year. Mr. Rajaratnam, who did not attend the hearing, is set to report to a federal penitentiary in Ayer, Mass., on December 5, to begin serving his 11-year sentence. A jury convicted him earlier this year of orchestrating a massive insider-trading conspiracy at his hedge fund, the Galleon Group. The panel said it was reserving judgment. A decision is expected before week’s end.  For more info, go to [Dealbook 11/30/11]