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the lawyers also monitor suits to identify specific automobile parts that cause the biggest legal problems
mr. pearce says law firms with the best chance of retaining or winning business with gm will be those providing the <unk> service at the best cost <unk> similar <unk> from gm 's auto operations to suppliers
this does n't necessarily mean larger firms have an advantage mr. pearce said gm works with a number of smaller firms it <unk> highly
mr. pearce has shaken up gm 's legal staff by eliminating all titles and establishing several new functions including a <unk> group that has made films on safety and drunk driving
federal prosecutors are concluding fewer criminal cases with trials
that 's a finding of a new study of the justice department by researchers at <unk> university
david burnham one of the authors says fewer trials probably means a growing number of plea bargains
in N N N of federal prosecutions concluded at trial in N only N N did
the study covered N major u.s. attorneys ' offices including those in manhattan and brooklyn n.y. and new jersey from N to N
the justice department rejected the implication that its prosecutors are currently more willing to plea bargain
our felony <unk> have been consistent for N years with about N N of all prosecutions going to trial a department spokeswoman said
the <unk> is somewhat <unk> in that the <unk> researchers said they based their conclusions on government statistics
one possible explanation for this decline in taking cases to trial says mr. burnham is that the number of defendants being charged with crimes by all u.s. attorneys has substantially increased
in N the study says prosecutors surveyed filed charges against N defendants for each N people aged N years and older
in N prosecutors filed against N defendants for every N adults
another finding from the study prosecutors set significantly different priorities
the manhattan u.s. attorney 's office stressed criminal cases from N to N averaging N for every N adults
but the new jersey u.s. attorney averaged N
on the civil side the manhattan prosecutor filed an average of only N cases for every N adults during the same period the san francisco u.s. attorney averaged N
the study is to provide reporters academic experts and others raw data on which to base further inquiries
<unk> marcos asks for dismissal says she was <unk>
the former first lady of the philippines asked a federal court in manhattan to dismiss an indictment against her claiming among other things that she was <unk> from her <unk>
mrs. marcos and her late husband former philippines president ferdinand marcos were charged with <unk> more than $ N million from that country and then <unk> <unk> much of the money through purchases of prime real estate in manhattan
mrs. marcos 's attorneys asked federal judge john f. keenan to give them access to all u.s. documents about her alleged <unk>
the u.s. attorney 's office in documents it filed in response said mrs. marcos was making the <unk> and <unk> <unk> claim that she was <unk> into this country in order to obtain classified material in the case
the office also said mrs. marcos and her husband were n't brought to the u.s. against their will after mr. marcos was ousted as president
the prosecutor quoted statements from the <unk> in which they said they were in this country at the invitation of president reagan and that they were enjoying the <unk> of the u.s.
lawyers for mrs. marcos say that because she was taken to the u.s. against her wishes the federal court lacks jurisdiction in the case
the federal court of appeals in manhattan ruled that the dismissal of a N indictment against former bank of <unk> owner george <unk> should be <unk>
the indictment which was <unk> and apparently forgotten by investigators until N charges mr. <unk> and three others with tax fraud and other violations
he made numerous trips to the u.s. in the early 1980s but was n't arrested until N when he showed up as a guest of <unk> president george bush at a government function
a federal judge in manhattan threw out the indictment finding that the seven-year delay violated the defendant 's constitutional right to a <unk> trial
the appeals court however said the judge did n't adequately consider whether the delay would actually hurt the chances of a fair trial
mr. <unk> is fighting <unk> proceedings that would return him to greece where he is charged with <unk> more than $ N million from the bank of <unk>
his attorney could n't be reached for comment
pro bono <unk> in an effort to <unk> off a plan that would require all lawyers in new york state to provide <unk> hours of free legal aid a year the state bar recommended an alternative program to increase voluntary participation in pro bono programs
the state bar association 's policy making body the house of delegate voted saturday to ask chief judge <unk> <unk> to give the bar 's voluntary program three years to prove its effectiveness before considering mandatory pro bono
we believe our suggested plan is more likely to improve the availability of quality legal service to the poor than is the proposed mandatory pro bono plan and will achieve that objective without the <unk> <unk> administrative burdens and possible failure that we fear would <unk> an attempt to impose a mandatory plan s...
dallas and houston law firms merge jackson & walker a <unk> firm in dallas and <unk> & <unk> a <unk> firm in houston said they have agreed in principle to merge
the consolidated firm which would rank among the N largest in texas would operate under the name jackson & walker
the merger must be formally approved by the partners of both firms but is expected to be completed by year end
jackson & walker has an office in fort worth texas and <unk> & <unk> has an office in new orleans
<unk> on
<unk> on government <unk> that general electric co. may have covered up fraudulent billings to the pentagon two shareholders have filed a civil racketeering suit against the company
the suit was filed by plaintiffs ' securities lawyer richard d. <unk> in u.s. district court in philadelphia
he seeks damages from the company 's N directors on grounds that they either participated in or <unk> the illegal acts or utterly failed to carry out their duties as directors
ge is defending itself against government criminal charges of fraud and false claims in connection with a <unk> contract for the army
the trial begins today in federal court in philadelphia
the government 's <unk> of the <unk> were made in last minute pretrial <unk>
ge which <unk> denies the government 's allegations denounced mr. <unk> 's suit
it is a <unk> suit <unk> defective and <unk> <unk> which was <unk> filed by a <unk> lawyer as a result of newspaper reports said a ge spokeswoman
she added that the company was considering bringing sanctions against mr. <unk> for making grossly inaccurate and <unk> allegations
the head of the nation 's largest <unk> group is telling dealers to just say no when auto makers pressure them to <unk> cars on their lots
in an open letter that will run today in the trade journal automotive news ron <unk> president of the national car dealers association says dealers should cut their inventories to no more than half the level traditionally considered desirable
mr. <unk> who has been <unk> with the big three since he took office earlier this year said that with half of the nation 's dealers losing money or breaking even it was time for emergency action
u.s. car dealers had an average of N days ' supply of cars in their lots at the end of september according to ward 's automotive reports
but mr. <unk> said dealers should slash stocks to between N and N days to reduce the costs of financing inventory
his message is getting a <unk> reception in detroit where the big three auto makers are already being forced to close plants because of soft sales and reduced dealer orders
even before mr. <unk> 's <unk> some large dealers said they were cutting inventories
ford motor co. and chrysler corp. representatives criticized mr. <unk> 's plan as <unk>
it is going to sound neat to the dealer except when his <unk> car supply does n't include the bright red one that the lady wants to buy and she goes up the street to buy one a chrysler spokesman said
southern co. 's gulf power co. unit may plead guilty this week to charges that it illegally <unk> company money to politicians through outside vendors according to individuals close to an investigation of the utility holding company
the tentative settlement between gulf power a <unk> fla. electric company and federal prosecutors would mark the end of one part of a <unk> inquiry of southern co. in the past year
a grand jury has been investigating whether officials at southern co. conspired to cover up their accounting for spare parts to <unk> federal income taxes
the grand jury has also been investigating whether gulf power executives violated the federal utility holding company act which prohibits certain utilities from making political contributions
the individuals said gulf power and federal prosecutors are considering a settlement under which the company would plead guilty to two felony charges and pay fines totaling between $ N and $ N million
under one count gulf power would plead guilty to conspiring to violate the utility holding company act
under the second count the company would plead guilty to conspiring to <unk> taxes
the guilty <unk> would be made solely by gulf power the individuals said
no employee or vendor would be involved
a spokesman for southern co. would say only that discussions are continuing between gulf power and federal prosecutors
we have no further developments to report he said
officials at gulf power could n't be reached for comment
and prosecutors declined to comment
while southern co. has been reluctant to discuss the grand jury investigations edward l. <unk> chief executive officer has said the company is prepared to defend its tax and <unk> practices if any charges are brought against it
<unk> mr. <unk> has said southern co. and its units do n't <unk> illegal political contributions
neither mr. <unk> nor any other southern co. official has been charged with any wrongdoing in connection with the current inquiries
the probe of southern co. has attracted considerable attention this year because of several events that have <unk> the company including the death of a gulf power executive in a plane crash and the disappearance of a company vendor who was to be a key grand jury witness
witnesses have said the grand jury has asked numerous questions about jacob f. <unk> <unk> the senior vice president of gulf power who died in the plane crash in april
mr. <unk> <unk> gulf power 's <unk> efforts
on the morning of the crash he had been put on notice that an audit committee was recommending his dismissal because of <unk> <unk> in a company audit
investigators have been trying to determine whether the crash was an accident sabotage or <unk>
gulf power said in may that an internal audit had disclosed that at least one vendor had used false <unk> to fund political causes
but the company said the political contributions had been made more than five years ago
exxon corp. is resigning from the national wildlife federation 's corporate advisory panel saying the conservation group has been unfairly critical of the exxon <unk> oil spill along the alaskan coast
the federation said friday that it regrets the resignation but issued a <unk> response that called exxon a corporate <unk> that should keep an open dialogue with environmentalists
the federation with N million members nationwide has been one of the sharpest critics of exxon 's handling of the N million <unk> tanker spill and has accused the company of repeatedly ignoring requests to meet and discuss it
the march N oil spill <unk> hundreds of miles of <unk> along alaska 's southern coast and <unk> havoc with wildlife and the fishing industry
exxon 's exxon usa unit was one of the charter members of the corporate conservation council a panel of executives formed in N by the national wildlife federation to foster frank and open discussions between industry and the federation 's leaders
in a letter to the federation raymond <unk> exxon 's environmental coordinator said recent public actions by you regarding the <unk> oil spill have failed to demonstrate any sense of <unk> or fairness
the federation was among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in august against exxon seeking full payment of environmental recovery costs from the spill
first tennessee national corp. said it would take a $ N million charge in the fourth quarter as a result of plans to expand its systems operation
the banking company said it reached an agreement in principle with international business machines corp. on a systems operations contract calling for ibm to operate first tennessee 's computer and telecommunications functions
further under the agreement first <unk> would continue to develop the software that creates customer products and <unk>
because personal computers will soon be on the desks of all of our <unk> and customer service and loan representatives information will be instantly available to help customers with product decisions and provide them with information about their accounts according to john <unk> executive vice president and corporate s...
however about N employees will be affected by the agreement
first tennessee <unk> by ibm said it will attempt to place the employees within the company ibm or other companies in memphis
the process will take as many as six months to complete the company said
the agreement is subject to the banking company 's board approval which is expected next month
the treasury department said the u.s. trade deficit may worsen next year after two years of significant improvement